


The Flood after the Storm

by JSB3



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Sexual Content, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-10
Updated: 2013-11-19
Packaged: 2017-12-29 00:50:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 39,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/998896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JSB3/pseuds/JSB3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a few weeks after Jennifer being defeated, the Hale siblings leaving, and Deucalion vanishing and some things are getting back to normal. But the new girl obviously seems to have a thing for Stiles just as he's starting to come into terms of his own preferences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Darkness Takes Hold

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so a little warning first, this is my first fan-fic but not my first work and apparently I have a strange writing style. This obviously takes place after season 3 and it's just something I want to do since the next episode isn't until January and I'm completely frustrated at the lack of Teen Wolf in my life.

Stiles looked around the darkness. He couldn’t see anything around him. “Scott? Allison?” Where was he? Stiles tried to take a few steps forward but then he felt the pain. He gripped his stomach and fell against a wall, sticky with something that smelled off. Stiles pushed off and looked down and noticed the blood. He looked at his left hand, the one that had clutched his stomach. It was dirty but not with blood. When he looked at his right his innards heaved. The red coated his fingers. He looked at the wall but couldn’t see anything. The darkness kept him blind. Taking a step back he gasped as another sense of pain gripped at his stomach; lancing claws of agony that took his breath. Stiles crumbled to the ground again, this time unable to focus. Stars shimmered at his peripherals. He grimaced and gave out a shout. “Stop!” A sudden light appeared before him. In front of him lay bodies. 

His dad, Scott, Allison, Lydia were all dead. Their bodies mangled and bloodied. Stiles stifled the urge the vomit. He shook his head. He heard struggling and looked up to see Derek chained against a rock. Blood striped down his body and through his torn clothes. His fangs showed but he looked at Stiles with pure sadness and terror. Stiles tried to creep forward but he couldn’t because another wave of pain set in throughout his body. He cried out and his eyes leaked out tears. He was frustrated and in pain. Ultimately, he was afraid. Fear was something he’d had experienced. This… This was profoundly different.

Legs shaking, shoulder bracing against the slick wall, Stiles recoiled at the blood smell that came from it. “I’m coming. I’m trying…” He muttered and he looked up to see a dark figure cut into Derek’s side with a deep plunge of a knife. Derek’s snarl changed into a roar. He could hear the young man’s fangs click as he grimaced from the pain. Stiles tried to rush forward. Derek began to yell something but there was a flash of light and silver and the reverberation from his voice cut out sharply. Stiles froze and felt his hairs all stand on end. He’d lost his mother and now his father and closest friends. Watching as the light slowly faded from his eyes, Stiles screamed out, “Derek! Derek!” Then he fell.

Stiles jerked awake at the sensation of falling. “No!” The whole class jumped and the new chemistry teacher jumped, nearly spilling the acid over his desk. “Mr. Stilinski. What is the cause of your outburst? Do you disagree with this procedure?” Stiles stuttered and muttered a few inaudible words before a high voice called out. “Actually, you’ve grabbed the wrong beaker, Mr. Wagner.” All the heads of his classmates looked to the strawberry blond girl who’d spoken. Mr. Wagner looked shocked and looked closer at the beaker in hand. It took him a few seconds before nodding. “Right you are. This would have done nothing for the experiment but change the solvent into a dark brown color. Thank you Mr. Stilinski, Miss Martin.”

Stiles looked over at Lydia who was purposefully acting smug for the other students. She glanced back at him and back to her notes before making a double take. Stiles wiped off some drool that had gathered on his desk and then his forehead for the sweat. He smiled and nodded thanks to Lydia and avoided the stares coming from her lab partner and the boy behind her. Allison Argent had a confused look on her face and Scott McCall, his best friend since forever, had a look of worry. Stiles made a point to ignore the looks. It was something he was having a problem with. Not anything they could help solve. Trying to take good notes for a change, Stiles pushed the remnant of the dream out of his mind.

As soon as the bell rang, Stiles was up, out of his seat and off to lunch. Stopping by his locker, he noticed a few more people around him than usual. “I never thought I was this popular! Thanks guys.” The sarcasm was basically dripping off his tongue. He grabbed the paper sack and closed the door to reveal the face of Aiden. Stiles jumped. “Damn werewolves.” The smirk on his face told him he’d scared him on purpose. 

“Stiles what’s wrong?” Scott was the first to speak up. Lydia pretended not to care and checked her make-up in her compact mirror. Aiden watched her with amusement playing on his lips. Allison stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. Another hand came up on his other shoulder and Stiles looked over to see Aiden again. Aiden’s twin actually. Ethan was almost exactly like his older brother. He was confused. 

“What happened? I heard you yell all the way in history.” His eyes flicked around automatically searching for Danny. Stile rolled his shoulders a few times. “I’m okay. All of you are okay. Everything is okay. Okay?” Stiles looked at them all and put up a sort of half smile. He threw out another okay just to annoy them all. The twins rolled their eyes and Allison shrugged. Lydia made another glance at him before taking Aiden’s hand and walking to the cafeteria. Scott stayed behind and asked him again. “You sure you are okay?” Stiles gave Scott a look. “I’m perfectly fine. We saved our parents from Jennifer, no one that we love died this time and now everyone is pretty much up to speed so I can finally stop lying to my dad.”

Walking to lunch was easier in silence but Stiles still wanted to make sure everyone knew he was good. So he just vomited every word or phrase that came to his mind. “And what was Wagner thinking when he assigned that homework? I’ve got a lot of stuff to do! I mean Lydia is well… Lydia’s with Aiden. There’s Danny! He and… Ethan are probably going to be doing something.” Stiles’ mood wasn’t getting better as he began to point out all of the people he couldn’t hang out with. “Well you and I could-” He looked over at Scott and noticed where he was staring. “I could morn over the fact that you’re not paying attention to me because you are too upset at Allison being a lot closer to Isaac.” Scott was still stuck in his trance so Stiles shoved at his shoulder, not doing much because of Scott being a werewolf. 

“Huh? What?” Scott looked back to Stiles. “Oh. So now I can talk to you. Okay.” Scott gave a shrug. “Sorry man, I’m just a little bummed. Allison is totally over me.” Stiles rolled his eyes. “We are just back where we started with a few extras in the group or pack or whatever this thing is. You’re an alpha now!” Stiles snapped his fingers. “Maybe we could put that on a slogan. It might make you prom king!” Scott gave him a look that said, I’m-not-amused. “No? Okay then you can get someone else to try and help you.” Stiles put his free hand into his pocket. “Why don’t we just focus on school and lacrosse? Forget about what every guy thinks about all the time.” 

Scott shrugged. “I don’t know.” Stiles rolled his eyes. “Go get your lunch I’m sitting down over there.” Stiles ignored the look Scott gave him and went to a table that was free by the window. He sat his lunch down and looked out at the rain that pelted the window, thinking of the nightmare that was so real, the pain still hadn’t gone away.


	2. Pizza Snack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of my chapters are at least 1,000 words and I had thought that'd be okay but now I'm becoming self-conscience and feel like they are too short. :/ If you have a complaint please let me know.

Stiles opened the door of the house and the sudden voice of his father made him flinch. “Hey! I ordered pizza already you want to watch a movie or something?” Stiles smiled and dropped his backpack from his back to his hand and carried it to the living room. He met his father’s gaze and had to hold back from grimacing or laughing. The man was still in a white t-shirt with stains all over it, grey shorts barely hiding pale legs that led to long black socks. The man’s hair looked like he hadn’t had a shower for a few days. “Yeah, Dad, why aren’t you at work?” The grown man gave a heavy sigh and rubbed at his eyes.

“They’re still saying I should take a break because of getting kidnapped. Vacation time really. So I’m feeling great. I need a break.” Stiles nodded and tightened his lips in an agreement to his father’s sarcasm. “You’re going crazy are-” “Yes! I need to go back to work. I love you, Stiles but I need to get out of here. I’ve watched nothing but sci fi shows for the past week.” Stiles was about to suggest going to Allison’s father, Chris Argent, to talk about werewolves and things but decided to keep his mouth shut. His father was probably the last person he’d want to be off learning about hunting his best friend.

“What shows? Anything with Scully?” His father had started watching some of his old tapes of X-Files and made Stiles fact check with the show. It had been a long and heated four hours of a Saturday. Stiles made for the remote and turned off the T.V. “You ever think about dating?” Stiles asked slightly joking but then wondering what his dad would answer. Everyone around him was dating and those he wanted to either turned out to be supernatural or victims of the supernatural. His dad kind of looked at him with a look. “No. Why do you ask?” Stiles kind of shrugged. He looked away to get away from his dad’s stare and groaned. Pizza boxes from other precious dinner were still on the table. He pushed away from the wall, leaving his back pack and started to clean up. His dad stood up and helped. Stiles crushed the boxes and folded them into the trash can and came back in to see his dad had changed into some jeans and an actual clean shirt.

“No avoiding this time Stiles. Talk to me. I know everything now.” Stiles sighed and sat on the arm of the couch. “Dad. I don’t know. I just look around and keep seeing everyone in relationships. Lydia and Aiden, Ethan and Danny and we really shouldn’t get started on the love triangle between Scott, Isaac and Allison. I thought me and Lydia were going to work out. She even kissed me.” From his dad’s look he rolled his eyes. “Yeah apparently it didn’t mean anything though. I was having a panic attack after Allison’s dad got taken and she kissed me to make me hold my breath.” His lips tingled as he remembered the kiss. He’d never kissed Lydia but it’d been a dream of his since forever. Stiles blushed realizing he was star-struck with her. “It’s just a relationship would put the norm back into normal.”

His father sighing brought him back to reality. “Look, Stiles. If you like someone and care about their happiness then you should be fine and have patience. Good things come to those who wait.” Stiles gave his father a look. “Did you order Chinese for lunch and get that off a fortune cookie?” Sherriff Stilinski gave Stiles a look. “Yeah, my lucky numbers were three, seventeen, twenty-five, twenty-nine and forty-two. I’m saying, you won’t help yourself trying to rush the course of things. Something will happen. You just have to look forward to it.” Stiles nodded and sat there a few minutes longer. “Why did you order pizza so early? I just got out of school.” The Sherriff shrugged. “I got uh… Impatient.” He smiled at Stiles and he laughed. 

Standing, Stiles turned and picked up his backpack. “I’ve got homework. Yell for pizza.” He thudded up the stair with resistance and dread gripping his gut tighter as he climbed each step. Getting to his door, he paused before opening it. He felt his heart speed up with nervous energy. Stiles rushed in and looked around. The tidy room was exactly how he left it. The computer chair swiveled out from an early morning Facebook check, his bed made and a few pages on his printer. A pair of boxers lay in a pile by his hamper. He grumbled and picked them up. His room was clean and spotless. Of mess and company. Slightly confused why he was expecting company, Stiles looked to the window realizing it was closed. 

It hit him that he wanted the company of two people. One was off shopping or spending time with her boyfriend. The other hadn’t snuck in through his window to terrify him since they beat Jennifer. Thinking of Derek, Stiles wondered what he’d say to him now. His daydream took over.

“What is the matter with you?” Stiles rolled his eyes. “Why is everyone asking me that today?” Taking steps to his bed his fantasy Derek spoke to him again. “I usually can’t get you to shut up and now you’re not talking. What?” Stiles shrugged and slumped down to the covers of his bed. He rubbed his eyes. “Maybe I’m tired?” A growl and Derek’s voice was by his ear. “Too tired for me?” Stiles sighed slightly, sliding his hand down his hips to his inner thigh. Jumping up, Stiles opened his eyes and shook his head. “He wouldn’t say that… What is wrong with me?” Thinking of his dream, Stiles began to think of a different scenario with Derek. “What exactly did Deaton tell you, Scott and Allison?” Stiles sat down in his computer chair and whirled in a quick circle. “He said Beacon Hills would become a beacon again. Bringing things we haven’t seen before.”

“Things we haven’t seen before? Like what?” Stiles gave an exasperated choke of sound. “Like I would know? What do you want me to do?” Stiles imagined the stern glare that Derek would give him. “Oh, fine. I’ll look up everything.” Stiles felt a tug of a smile as he thought how Derek would wait for him to turn around, turn on the computer, start to complain and leave before Stiles could turn around. A sadness overcame Stiles as he thought of Derek being gone from Beacon Hills. “When are you coming back?” Stiles wondered out loud before the doorbell rang and his dad yelled for him.


	3. The New Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally bringing in the New Girl. It's slow and yes, it's killing me that there is hardly any Sterek action going on. I just like the slow build and I kind of want to make it like not Oh hey, we're both gay or bi or whatever. Kind of feel like this chapter is rushed but I'll revisit it tomorrow and check on it with a fresh mind.

First bell ringing, locker doors jangling and slamming, the school seemed to Stiles to be already life sucking. Cutting through a group of freshmen giggling over their phones, Stiles made his way to first period English. He hadn’t slept well and he was irritated. Sitting down near the back, Stiles saw the few people in the desks around him. A roll of his eyes and Stiles was bringing out the book they had started for the semester. Scott came into the room in a rush, yanking the book out of his backpack. Stiles watch in calculation. “I never knew you liked reading that much.” The glare from Scott made him smile. “I was just joking. Forgot to read?” Scott nodded.

“Yeah, fight with my dad last night so I went for a run.” He paused before saying in a hushed tone. “A late night run through the woods.” Stiles jumped forward into his seat. “You did what? You heard Deaton! We don’t even know what could be coming here. You could have gotten attacked.” Scott scoffed. “I’m an alpha now. I can take on whatever comes.” Stiles blew breath between his lips as he settled back into his seat comfortably. “You hope you can.” The comment earned another look. Stiles shrugged and let him get on with reading, ignoring the look as he flipped open his notebook searching for the last place he had taken notes and drawn doodles. As he read the notes he realized half way through the book the writing became conspiracy theories. The final bell rang and a few straggling students ran and jumped into their seats.

The door closed behind the teacher as she escorted a new girl to the front of the class. Stiles glanced over at Scott to gauge his reaction. Lately, if something new came to the school it meant trouble. Scott wasn’t paying attention because he was trying to read before they had a surprise reading quiz. Stiles decided to give this girl a once over and wasn’t disappointed. He and the rest of class had dropped their jaws at the girl who had walked in. She wore tall heeled sandals that looked like white leather. Her skirt came down to her lower thigh, dark black and clinging to her hips that swayed as she walked to the middle of the classroom. The skirt led to a tightly formed black tank top that clung to her equally curving form. A white denim jacket was opened and framing her torso with a relaxed fitting style. Her tan skin stood out bright against the white around her legs and shoulders and even seemed to darken near the black clothing. Her hair bounced in golden rings that even seemed to glitter as the light shown on them. Her eyes were shadowed with a pale blue shifting into a light green framing her shadow grey eyes. Stiles was lost for words. 

He watched as she made a quick face and searched the class. Her gaze settled quickly on Scott. Her eyebrows furrowed deeply in displeasure. Then she shifted with a surprised look to Stiles. The smile was shy and looked like she was in awe. The smile made him feel awkward but he smiled. Mrs. Erwin began to speak. “Class. This is the new student. Introduce yourself and take the seat behind Mr. Stilinski.” She sat in her seat and watched impatiently. Stiles noted the fake smile on the older woman’s face. The girl stepped forward to the front row of the class. “Hello, I’m Miranda Clearwater. I hope we can all be friends.” She turned to flash a great smile at the teacher and walked toward Stiles. 

Stiles didn’t realize his hand bringing his pen up to his teeth. He began to chew on the end of it as Miranda turned the corner around a desk and strut down the desks, eyes pointedly staring at Stiles. She gave him a wink startling Stiles into dropping his pen. She stifled a laugh and placed her books on the desk. She bent over to retrieve the pen, causing an explosion of a multitude of chairs moving to erupt behind Stiles. She brought it up and tapped the chewed on end to her lip. 

“Thanks. I needed a pen.” She sat down with another one of her flashing smile and Stiles turned to face the door with a blush to color his cheeks and neck. The teacher began to teach the class even though none of the students were paying any attention. Most of the kids were on their phones, reading books or doodling. Stiles ignored the few guys still staring at him and Miranda. Paying attention in class was becoming harder to do when all he thought about was his dreams, the living nightmares that might exist and might come to Beacon Hills. Ultimately, his thoughts led him to where Derek could be.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Slut.” Stiles snorted and then began coughing as water shot into his nose making his eyes tear up. Lydia bit into an apple with ferocity. She had caught Aiden sniffing around Miranda. Aiden scoffed at Lydia calling Miranda a slut again. He turned to his girlfriend and begged her to listen, that Miranda smelled funny. She whipped her anger to Scott who sat at the end of the table digging into the tater tots and trying to ignore the argument. Lydia’s anger must have swelled into a scent because Scott looked up with a tired expression.

“I can’t smell anything in English. Greenburg sits behind me and I’m pretty sure he hasn’t brushed his teeth for days. It’s all I can smell.” Another bite of tots and he makes a hand motion toward Stiles and he felt his blood flee from his face. “She sat behind him and talked to him.” Lydia’s head snapped back to Stiles with a look of fury and betrayal. Stiles aimed a kick to Scott but ended up kicking Isaac. Stiles ignored the growl.

“I don’t have a great sense of smell. Allergies.” It was a sarcastic lie and Lydia’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “And we didn’t talk about anything. I dropped my pen and she took it saying thanks. She needed a pen.” He shrugged. “End of conversation. I ended up having to borrow a pen from Greenburg whom I know isn’t shy of gingivitis. Ugh, I had to tutor him in math last time I got a detention.” Lydia fumed but then put on a huge smile looking over his shoulder. Stiles turned around confused and a bite of his peanut butter sandwich in his mouth finding Miranda walking up to the table with a little bag. He assumed it was her lunch.

She gave him a smile and looked at the rest of the table. “Hi, I’m Miranda. Can I sit with you?” Before anyone could answer Lydia stood up and extended her hand. “Yes! Of course you can. I’m Lydia Martin. So nice to meet you!” The look on Aiden’s face almost made Stiles snort water into his nose again. Stiles knew what Lydia was thinking. Her friends close, her enemies closer. Miranda sat her bag between Isaac and Stiles. Isaac scooted closer to Allison and they both began to blush. Scott stabbed angrily into his food but neither noticed. Stiles gave Miranda a curt smile and swallowed another gulp of water. “I’m Stiles. I sit in front of you in English.” She gave a nod.

“I remember. You let me take your pen. Sorry about that. It seemed really awkward with everyone staring. I just figured it’d be a quick way we could get to know each other.” There was whistle and Danny was walking by giving Stiles a look. Ever since he and Ethan started dating, Danny had been nice to Stiles. Mostly because he thought he and Ethan are friends. The reality was that they barely tolerated each other. He liked it because it reminded him of Derek. Thinking of Derek made Stiles feel guilty about Miranda smiling and acting like she was interested in him. He had no idea about why, they’d only just met. Giving a look to Lydia, more like a subtle beg for her to distract the girl. Lydia brought up how the girl could stand being dressed the way she was when it was clearly mid-autumn. Miranda gave a shy laugh and brushed hair out of her face.

“Where I come from, it’s a lot colder. I’m not used to it so I’m comfortable.” Stiles took another bite from his sandwich, listening instead of talking like he usually did. He noticed a few looks from Scott and Allison but ignored them as Miranda began to speak to Aiden. “Shouldn’t you be with Danny? You told me in history that you had wanted to eat lunch with him.” They all laughed. Aiden shook his head. “That’s Ethan. My twin.” Miranda nodded and said a quiet oh, drawing Stiles’ attention. He waited a bit after he finished his meal and looked as Miranda listened to the others talk about Lydia’s shopping habits and Aiden’s carrying her things for her. She watches them all nervously. When she catches him watching, she gives him a soft, almost insecure, smile. Noting how she’s finished with her food, Stiles stands and offers to walk her to the trash can and then to her locker. Miranda jumps up from the table and follows him after saying good-byes to the others at the table. Miranda began asking questions about Stiles and the school and his friends. He answers most of them but mostly lies about a few things because they are all really close to werewolf subjects and he didn’t want to talk about that.

“Stiles, that is, like, the third or fourth question you’ve avoided entirely. Not to mention the ones you lied about.” Miranda’s voice wasn’t strained. More like it was factual. Stiles shrugged. “Sorry. Just some things I don’t want to talk about. My dad was almost killed like those other people.” Her eyes widened and she closed her mouth. “I’m sorry, you didn’t know.” Stiles felt a little bad at having treated her a little rudely. She shook her head. “I’m awful at this. I’m just a little excited.” Stiles watched the blood rush to her face and she shrugged. “Making a new friend of course.” Stiles smiles and lets the comment stand but he had the feeling she didn’t mean it like that. “Well I have a question. Why did you act so strangely when you found out Aiden and Ethan were twins?” She shrugged and this time dodged his question. He decided to continue hanging out with her if only to figure out why she seemed to be interested in him and why she felt so weird with the others.


	4. Imaginings and Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brief Masturbation so Mature Audiences please.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay added a little imaginary Sterek to get to it faster, hope it still pleases you all! Added another character too. Longer chapter which is always a plus, right?

Stiles woke his self with a moan. He had one of his pillows stuck under his leg and he was rolling his hips into it. He gasped at the remnants of the dream. He turned over to better take care of the solution. He slid his hand down his chest, clawing his way down his skin. He gasped as he imagined the kiss into his neck. The sharp fangs that would pinch his skin and the stubble that burned his neck. The heat of it all making his skin twitch and tingle at the thought. Stiles slid his hand over his erection through his boxers. He gasped as he imagined another bite turning into sucking and pulling of skin. He shifted his hand and he heard a little plop sound as his dick fell to his chest. He took it into his hand and gave it a rough rub over the head. He lifted his hips and sighed. The slick wetness that came out began to coat his hand. Stiles slid his hand down the shaft, imagining the rough hands that would grip at his skin, pull at his hair. His other hand gripped at the sheets as he lifted his hips again. He began to move his hand faster and with a tighter hold. The imagination led stubble down his chest, over his stomach and to his thighs. Stiles gasps again and his head looks away from the ceiling as he explodes and shoots up his chest. Laying there, Stiles breathed heavily. 

A blush settled over his face. The whole time, he’d thought of Derek. “What is wrong with me?” He voiced to no one in particular. He stood, careful not to drip any on his bed because his other sheets had been thrown into the laundry room yesterday. He’d have to get them when his dad was out of the house sometime later. He quickly shuffled to the shower and turned on the hot water. After a few moments, he slid his hand behind the curtain to check the water. He brought it back as a shocking cold hit him. Thinking of what he usually looked at online, Stiles gave a little chuckle. The water was so cold there couldn’t possibly be a killer in the shower. He noted the steam over the curtain and slid his boxers down his legs. He stepped out of them cautiously and then into the tub. The water felt great running over his cool skin. The warmth spreading over his back made him think of his imagination. At the thought he began to feel a little pain in his groin. He looked down and grumbled. He was getting hard again and there was no chance he could take care of it. Sometimes it sucked being a hormonal teenager. 

He ignored the reaction from an early morning mistake and thought more about what had happened. Stiles shook his head to clear out the hormones and thought about what he had wanted to feel brushing across his skin. Thinking of Derek like that wasn’t something he was used to. Thinking of any guy like that made Stiles really confused. He wasn’t gay. Was he? He joked around with Scott and maybe Isaac but he had to admit that sometimes he did get a little excited if Danny ever gave him a hard time. Stiles always figured it was just being the virgin he was and thinking about sex in general. He couldn’t be gay. To distract himself, Stiles began to think about what he read last night on the internet. Most of the monster sites he had found were blogs of people who wrote fictions about them. After he narrowed that down, he tried to find sites that might have talked about them even though most people differ in the ideas of what’s real. Most of the stuff he had found was of vampires and they were mostly arguments about how Twilight vampires were the best. He scoffed as he had last night. Thinking about the myths and legends he found, he was pretty freaked out. He still had no idea that anything like what he read even existed. He picked up the soap thinking aloud. “Wish there was just an easy-” He dropped the bottle ignoring the racket it made. He leapt out of the shower thinking of the one thing they could use. Before grabbing his phone he decided to wait for school and stumbled over the slick floor of his bathroom and back into the shower to finish washing. 

Now needing to talk to the pack he rushed out of the shower. Towel wrapped around his hips, feet slipping on the bathroom tile, Stiles made his way into his room. He ran to the dresser and pulled open a drawer. Digging for some decent underwear he shivered as a breeze blew over his skin. He stopped digging and turned around slowly. The window was open. Stiles turned even further to look around his room, Derek’s name playing on his lips and as his heart fluttered slightly. Finding he was alone, Stiles closed the window and locked it. Disappointment lowered his mood as he dressed. Pulling some socks out of the drawer, he made his way to his bed and stopped frozen by what he saw. On his bed were two books. Books he knew he didn’t have because they were beautiful books. He watched as they even seemed to shimmer in the light. The one on the left had a cover that was white with no writing. The one on the right was a dark and violent purple with light, curving, silver writing. He picked up the purple one and cried out as he felt a burning sensation go up his arm and then through his body. He dropped the book back onto the bed. He looked at his hands to see if there were marks. There weren’t. Stiles waited for a few moments, cursed himself for being stupid, and picked up the book again. “What the hell?” Nothing happened. Shaking his head he looked at the pages and found the same writings and sometimes a few pictures and lists. He didn’t understand what they all meant. As he picked up the white one, he heard his father yell up at him.

“Hurry up Stiles. Breakfast will be pop tarts if you don’t hurry!” This threat was light for him. He had plenty of time to cook breakfast for the two of them. He wasn’t going to let his father eat totally rotten being off work. “On my way!” He yelled back. He opened the white book and noticed every single page is blank. A scoff escaped his lips and he put the books into his backpack while he slipped on his shoes. Closing the door, he momentarily thought about what he had imagined that morning and then the books. Were they connected? Stiles would have to wait and figure that out as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Stiles parked his car and jumped out, briefly pausing to grab his bag from the backseat. He slammed the door shut as he found Scott and Isaac standing next to the door waiting for him. He took the stairs two at a time, slightly out of breath but still full of energy. Allison and Lydia came out of the school and stood next to Isaac, Allison and Scott and Isaac all looking awkwardly at each other. Stiles smiles as this situation begins to work perfectly for telling them what he realized that morning. Before he could open his mouth Lydia tried to engage them all into a conversation about how cold it was. He glared at her as she clearly saw he was about to say something. All he got was a shrug from her before he heard their names all get called out.

“Stiles! Lydia! Allison!” He turned and saw it was Miranda jumping out of a mustang. A gorgeous Mustang, black cherry red with little black pinstripes up the side of it. The windows tinted so one couldn’t see in. Miranda pulled at the back door and looked into the windows in horror. She yelled, “Not now Xav! Please!” The driver side door opened and out came a young man. Lydia took in a breath. “Oh wow… He’s hot.” His dark hair fell down, lightly brushing the grey eyes that surveyed everything around him. He took his steps around his car and held out a bag to Miranda. Obviously embarrassed, the girl yanked it from his hands and he followed her up the steps to the little group. He wore a button down shirt that was hunter green covering a light blue shirt underneath. His jeans were ripped on the thigh and knee, revealing pale skin in contrast with the young man’s dark hair. The shadow around his jaw made him look like he was older than the rest of them by more than just a few years. His boots clomped up the stairs ad he extended out a hand to them all. “Hello. I’m Xavier. Miranda’s brother.” Stiles is the first to swallow and shake the hand. After all the introductions, Xavier walked away and Miranda glared at him as he drove off.

“Sorry guys. I told him I met a bunch of new people and he wanted to make sure that they were okay to hang out with.” She eyed Scott and Isaac but neither were watching because they were looking at Allison and each other. Stiles shrugged. “My dad’s the sheriff so I totally understand overprotection.” Miranda tilted her head to the side at learning about his dad. “Well, he and my folks just know that, mid-semester and everything, making friends is going to be difficult.” Stiles smiled at her. He turned away thinking that she was nice. But Ms. Blake had been nice too.Stiles was walking along side of her and Scott when the others left. Stopping at his locker, Stiles put some of his other books into the locker. “Oh!” He gave Scott a look and Scott raised his eyebrows. Before he could say anything, Miranda turned around to look at him too. Scott went on stumbling in his speech. “I took a shower today and it was kind of longer than normal because I was thinking about life, you know, well when I got out and got changed my window was open!” Scott’s eyes widened and he made a great effort not to look at Miranda. She put a hand to her mouth. “Was someone in there?” Stiles shook his head. “There had been though. I found these- hey.” The book with the purple binding was nowhere to be found. He looked back into his locker and saw that he hadn’t taken it out. “That’s weird. Well I did find this book. It’s empty though. Nothing…” His voice trailed off. The book had changed with a dark crimson writing emblazing the cover. He opened it and saw the scrawling words actually readable. He gave Scott a look and then saw the confusion and slight fear in Miranda’s eyes. He looked back at it and saw one of the words and read it aloud. Miranda stiffened as he read it. “Koob etativel.” Stiles shrugged his shoulders and then saw Scott looking at his hands. When he moved his hands outward saying, “What?” he realized that the book was now floating in front of him. A yelp surprised a girl across the hall and Miranda shoved the book into his locker then the door. Stiles tried to play it off like the two of them had surprised him. “What just happened?” Miranda shook her head and looked to Scott. “Maybe we should all have a talk…” Scott looked at her and then took a big whif. “You do smell weird. Scared. You know what just happened and you’re scared of… Me?!” Stiles and Scott looked at Miranda until she finally muttered, “Yeah. And I am. I’m terrified of werewolves okay?” She walked away to English class without them. Stiles looked back at Scott with his jaw slacked open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made the spell backwards because if I make up my own language, I'll become frustrated that it has no structure and it's also easier to make the words backwards rather than a whole new set of rules for the alphabet. Hope you guys enjoyed!


	5. Colors in Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Started this at 3 in the morning yesterday and finished at 4 in the morning today! HA! Anyways, thanks to those who commented! Means a lot to me. Hope you like this chapter. I kind of feel like it rushed through again. Sorry!

English class was pure torture. Stiles sat there, legs bouncing faster than usual and his pencil tapping the notebook were constant instead of sporadic like they often are. Scott would look over a few times but this was one of the few days they are both quiet. Resisting the urge to turn around was just as hard as trying to sit still. Stiles chose to focus on facing the front of the classroom instead of sitting still. Jotting quick notes, Stiles couldn’t help but look down in his bag. Before they left his locker, Stiles had opened it. The book had nearly fallen to the floor but Scott caught it. When he was asked why, Scott told him the way Miranda had been acting about it made it seem nearly important enough to not let it get damaged. He brought it out into the open and he heard, actually heard, Miranda take in a deep breath. He opened it up and he felt her kick his chair. A slip of paper was shoved into his shoulder. Stiles lowered his hand and reached under the desk and felt the wad pushed into his hand. 

‘Whatever you do, DO NOT read anything out loud. Pick one too big and you’ll use too much power.’ Stiles scrawls back. ‘What happens then?’ Before he can even begin to fold the paper he heard some scrawling behind him and nearly jumped out of his seat. Her message was being scribed onto the paper as she wrote. It was one word and it was capitalized. ‘Death.’ Stiles sighed. ‘Great. Just another way for me to die young.’ He heard her giggle a little bit before stifling it and getting a glare from Mrs. Erwin. Stiles quickly scrawled another message ignoring the confused look on Scott’s face. ‘I’m being serious. You know about the last year of this town. I’ve been close to a lot of those murders/accidents/crime scenes for a while now.’ He glanced at the cover of the book and lightly traced the lettering that curved and seemed to have actually been sculpted into the book. A glance at the paper showed him a simple question mark. He turned around this time making Miranda look around exasperatingly. Facing front he simply wrote, ‘We’ll have to talk at lunch. Same table.’ There wasn’t another message the rest of class.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Stiles waited for everyone to finally get seated before launching into a tirade, many of them paling and looking to Miranda. “Hush. She partially knows. Allison. I thought about the best way to figure out what the might be coming our way and how to better prepare ourselves.” Lydia recovered quicker than the others and watched Miranda as she spoke. “You mean when Deaton said that the ritual would make Beacon Hills attract more than we’ve seen?” Stiles had been watching and Miranda showed genuine shock on her face. He responded, “Yeah. Remember when you read that stuff about the kanima? It came from something called a beastiary. Not-” He held up a finger in Isaac’s face. “beastiality. Horndogs the three of you.” He, Allison, Scott all blushed and looked away from the table to avoid each other. Stiles suddenly looked over. “Is Ethan listening in?” Aiden nodded. “He usually does so that way if we start to talk about something he doesn’t miss it. Although he usually does because Danny starts rubbing his thighs.” Everyone gave a short laugh but Stiles blushed thinking of how that would feel against his if he had the right person beside him.

“Stiles. The beastiary?” Scott brought focus back to the conversation. “Yeah. How about we get it and look at it so that way we can figure out what the Argents have had experiences with.” Allison shook her head. “The files are gone. Gerard pretty much destroyed them.” She shrugged as Stiles gave her and exasperated look. “Not really his fault considering he collapsed in a pool of his own blood with it in his pocket.” They all winced at the memory. Aiden looked as confused as Miranda. She pointed to the others and asked, “Didn’t you know about this?” Lydia leaned in and snapped. “Before you all got here we were already having drama okay? Speaking of, why is she sitting with us while we talk about this?” Stiles looked around and brought out his book. Miranda stared at it, paling. 

“This appeared in my room while I was in the shower. It wasn’t alone either. There was another that was purple where this one is white and silver where this one is red.” Lydia gave a short hum. Setting his gaze on her, Stiles let the question remain silent. She shrugged. “It’s more of a ruby of crimson color. Not red. Maybe rustic. Don’t’ worry Stiles. Your book is still pretty if not boring.” He rolled his eyes. “Thing is, it was empty of words and then when I got here, the other book was gone and this one had writing just like the other but I could read it this time and when I did read it something really weird happened.” Stiles took a breath then a quick sip of his water. Scott nodded and jumped in. “He just said some weird thing and the book just started floating over his hands. It was kind of cool but freaky since it was Stiles.” Everyone paled and their sudden attention made Stiles twitch with more nervous energy. “Yeah and someone is going to explain to us what this all means.” That’s the point where he threw Miranda under the bus. He did it mostly for an explanation, but there was a slight satisfaction that the attention was no longer on him. The dreading look she gave him told him she knew what he was doing and sighed.

“Okay so… Werewolves exist.” She paused gauging the table’s expressions. No one moved until Isaac spoke up. “Is that it because uh, that’s kind of old news.” Another sigh and she continued. “Well here’s a story to break the headlines. They aren’t the only things exist. Ghouls, demons, shapeshifters, and even sphinxes, if you have the unfortunate chance of meeting one, live and breathe in our time.” She takes another deep breath and pushes forward, her throat catching in her throat. “Even witches exist today.” Another pause to give everyone looks of deadly serious and make sure none were thinking it was a joke. Her brows furrowed. “Why do I feel like even that’s old information?”

“My boss is an emissary. A druid and he’s helped with spells and rituals before so we kind of got the whole spell casting thing exists.” Miranda paled. “There are druids here?” She chewed on her lip nervously. “That explains a lot then. You see, I’m obviously a witch. I’m part of a clave, a group of witches and mages. Recently, we felt a power surging from Beacon Hills. A source of power that drew us here and now we’re trying to figure out what it means and what we have to do to protect it.” Stiles gave a short interrupting cough. She looked at him. “It’s called the Nematon. It means that for the past few months, people have been being sacrificed. Certain groups.” Allison jumped in. “Virgins, Warriors, Healers, Philosophers, and Guardians. Three sacrifices of each group made by the Darach.” Then Scott followed her. “All sacrificed in order to destroy a pack of werewolves made only by Alphas. An Alpha pack. Deucalion was the main target being the Alpha of the pack. Now, we’re having to deal with any and all supernatural beings that come to Beacon Hills.” Stiles swallows before saying the obvious thought. “Before anyone else dies for some stupid power.”

Miranda’s face had grown paler with each voice and now she looked utterly nauseated. “Oh god this is going to cause so much trouble.” No one asked because no one needed to. “Maybe we should have this conversation at my house with my clave. It’d be a lot easier if they heard it all.” Stiles shook his head. “Not until you tell us what happened at my locker and why,” He dug his fingers into the cover of the book and even tapped it a few times. “You keep giving this book weird looks.” She scooted her seat over an inch away from the book before saying a word. “It’s called a Grimoire. It’s a spell book that is specifically made and fitted with a witch or mage. The reason you have one now is because of my clave. We sensed several powers hidden here in this town. Most of it here at this school. So I enrolled and we found all of you. We started with you, Stiles, because you were the first one I sensed who wasn’t a werewolf. Our suspicions were right. You’re a mage. And maybe Allison is a witch too but the rest of you are werewolves and that’s where your powers are.” Lydia made a quick expression but held her tongue. Stiles decided not to prod. “We tested it by placing an empty Grimiore and a completed one beside it. When you touched the first Grimiore, the knowledge of spells transferred into you without you realizing and then into the second one you picked up.”

Stiles shrugged and tried to take the information steadily but inside he was freaking out. After the past year and a half he’d been one of the few humans in the group. It was a dwindling number as the months went on. To find out he was now part of the supernatural world was an awakening for him. He felt the change. Had felt it for weeks. Since the ritual with Deaton and the water. Bringing himself to voice out some pointless questions he asked, “Then why the different colors?” He smiled thinking it was innocent but Miranda paled further. “That’s why it’s so strange and slightly terrifying. The color of the script is a color of where your strength comes from. Mine is a light blue which means the truth. Everything I strive for ends up being for the truth. This red means that your strength comes from your passions. Your love, your hate, your friends and family, even your enemies all influence your power.” Stiles looked at the book and stoked the binding slightly mystified that so much of his naked thoughts were in a simple color on a dumb book. Miranda continued but in a quieter tone. “The color of the binding always changes with a touch of the witch of mage it belongs to. The lighter the color the stronger you are. Being white, your Grimiore means that you are incredibly strong. Possibly the strongest I’ll ever meet. But the lighter color also means what you strive for. You aim for the good because you’re surrounded by darkness. A darkness that living with might consume you.”


	6. Signed Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support everyone! Also, I had to include a review but it's not all the way. I know it'll be a rough reading over that if you've kept up with the series but go ahead and read. I reread and didn't find any so hopefully I didn't make any mistakes. Enjoy!

No one at the table spoke. His hand clenched over the book’s cover, Stiles remained silent and seemed to be trying to calm himself. Allison cleared her throat and drew attention from him. “I guess that means me and Scott have to get grimoires right? We went through the same thing with Stiles so we should be mages too.” She didn’t like the thought at telling her dad about dabbling in witchcraft but it could help in protecting her in the future. She wondered slightly at what colors her book would be. Confusion set into Miranda’s expression again. Allison was getting slightly annoyed that this was the only expression in this girl’s face. “Scott’s obviously a werewolf. He can’t perform verbal magic or any witchcraft. Let me explain before you ask.” Allison didn’t have to look around to Scott to know he was going ask. “Werewolves are creatures who are already connected to, not the Earth where witches and mages draw their power, but the moon.” Miranda began to massage her temples. “Werewolves and witches are sort of opposites but not entirely. We grow older faster than they do, but we have more immediate control and more freedom with our powers. But where werewolves have a few weaknesses, witches and mages have many. We die like any normal human and we can also be killed by other witches of claves.”

Allison didn’t bother opening her mouth as Miranda turned to her. “For you, I’m not sure what’s going on. You don’t give off a witch’s aura, the energy that radiates off of the supernatural. It’s more like you’re surrounded by it. I can’t tell if you should be given a grimoire or if you are just cursed. May I ask what you meant by going through the same thing as Stiles?” Stiles stood up and walked away before anyone can speak. Lydia called after him and gave a quick exasperated look to first Aiden then Scott. Allison figured she felt like the Alphas of the town should listen to the rest of Miranda’s explanation or interpretation of what they all went through. Scott spoke up. “With the Darach killing people, we all tried to figure out if there would be more victims.” Ethan slid into a chair beside his brother and said, “Or if we were next on the list.” Scott nodded and continued ignoring the frightened expression Miranda wore. “She started with the Virgins. Then killed Warriors. The Healers were next and finally the Philosophers.” Miranda interrupted. 

“What about the Guardians?” Allison nodded. “Jennifer took Stile’s dad, Scott’s mom and then my dad. We think she took them-” Miranda waved a hand to stop the explanation. “Jennifer? You personally knew this Darach?” Her voice slightly trembled. The urge to slap the fear out of this girl was overwhelming. A whisper in the back of her mind creeped out, Do it. She’s weak to show that fear. Allison brushed her hair behind her ear and gave a curt nod. She brushed the voice as something of her imagination. “Yeah, she was our English teacher. We didn’t know it was her until she almost killed Lydia.” This time the look she got from Miranda was pure look of disbelief. “I’ve been here for only a few days and I already know Lydia Martin is so not a virgin.” Aiden snorted and Allison gave him a look of pure feministic indignation. He rolled his eyes at her empty threats. She’d shot at him with arrows before. “She was killing Lydia for knowing too much but no one, not even Lydia knew what she meant.” “That was right before she kidnapped Stile’s dad.” Scott put in. “Then she took my mom.” Allison looked to her lap and refused to speak about her dad surrendering. Isaac spoke for her. “Then Argent, Allison’s dad, gave himself so he could save the other two but she took him and stole his weapons.” 

This sent Miranda, who had been drinking a water, into a choking fit. She gasped for air before hoarsely addressing Allison. “You are part of the Argent family?! As in the werewolf hunting family, Argent?” Allison nodded like it should have been obvious for a witch that could tell who was magical and who wasn’t. Miranda pushed her tray further away from her. “I think this should wait until we’re in the council of my clave. I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it all.” Allison bit back comments of how a witch couldn’t handle the story when they had lived it, she, Stiles, and Lydia as humans. “Danny was human and had to live with all of it without knowing if he was next or not and that was on top of being poisoned by mistletoe.” The comment must have been meant for the wolves but clearly everyone heard and he received a full glare from Miranda. Allison shot him a smile saying she approved of the defending of Danny and indirect defending of the other humans of the group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since his last panic attack, Stiles kept an inhaler with him a lot of the time. He pulled it out of his locker, ignoring the sound of Lydia’s heels coming after him. She kept saying his name over and over again. If he’d been feeling better, he would have pictured her kissing him to help him with his attack but he was pretty sure that it was a one-time thing. He sucked in a quick puff of air and turned to lean against the lockers. He slid to the ground and watched Lydia march around the corner and glare at him. “Why would you make me run in these heels? If I broke one I would have used the other one to kill you.” Stiles shrugged and responded, “And ruin your outfit? I doubt it.” She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling in quick thought. “True. But I could always get Aiden to help out in my revenge. He might not have a problem with that.” Stiles bit back a tight retort concerning mountain ash branches and her boyfriend’s ass. Squatting down in front of him she stared at him with a determined look. “Tell me what wrong.” Stiles closed his eyes and gave a shake of his head. “No.”

Lydia sighed and said, “Let’s try this again. Stiles, tell me what’s wrong before I get my werewolf boyfriend to kick your ass.” Stiles gave a short laugh. The sentenced reminded him so much of when he took her to homecoming. Back when he was normal. He shrugged. “I thought we’d be done for a while you know? Live normal for a few weeks. But I haven’t had that.” Lydia shifted to sit beside him. He continued on. “Now I’m some sort of mage-wizard thing, I’m in even more danger and I am putting all of you in danger not to mention my dad- Oh my god my dad… He’s still trying to get a grasp on werewolves being real now I have to tell him I’m a witch?! That’ll go well. ‘Hey dad, made dinner! Spaghetti and eye of newt for two.’” Keeping his eyes closed her could tell Lydian was rolling her eyes but giving a soft smile as she thought about him saying that to his father. Stiles felt a little better at having made her laugh. “He’s already worried about me not sleeping. I’m so tired…” Lydia looked over at him. “Stiles, why aren’t you sleeping?” He shrugged.

“Nightmares. Usually of everyone I care about dead and dying.” He tried to push the memories of them out of his mind but it was gushing out of his mouth before he could say anything. “There’s my dad and you and the rest of the group. All of you are dead, the wolves are torn to pieces and you guys… Just dead. There’s a big gap so I can’t get over to help any of you. Cora is usually struggling for breath and then I hear the growls. When I look up, it’s Derek. He’s chained against the far side of wherever we are and I watch as hands just start cutting him. Just cutting him.” His voice trembles slightly. “I can’t do anything about it, I scream and try to get to him but I can’t. I wake up and then I just feel awful because he’s gone.” Heat flushed into his cheeks and he opened his eyes to see Lydia staring at him. “Stiles are… Are you?” He shook his head too afraid to speak. “I can’t be! I still get a massive… I still like to look at girls… I don’t know. I can’t be. It’s kind of considered a sin against nature though isn’t it?” She put a hand on his shoulder. “Stiles. Shut up. You’re rambling. Take a breath and think. When you think of Derek what do you think of?” Stiles kept his lips shut but Lydia guessed the answer he was afraid to admit. “Oh god Stiles. Now you want to add this onto the supernatural plate?” Stiles slammed his head into the locker a few times. 

“I don’t know! I mean, I guess when I was too worried about him killing me, or him getting killed or the both of us dying, it didn’t occur to me that I… No. I’m not. I am not gay. Or bi. Or a mage or gah! I am not anything. I’m human. Normal. A normal teenager which just means that my hormones are completely screwing with my head. I-I-I can’t even-” Lydia threw her hands into the air. “Shut up, Stiles!” He opened the book he had brought with him and looked at the crimson writing as it glistened in the light of the hallway. “Why do you think she can’t sense you?” Lydia ignored him and took the book from his hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What would she sense about me?” Her voice had turned from supportive into prissy Lydia voice. The one Stile’s still enjoyed being subjugated by. Although not hearing the gruff growl under it did make him think briefly of Derek. He rolled his eyes and pushed against Lydia. “You know. Why couldn’t she sense that you are a Banshee? Do you know what a Banshee is?” Lydia shook her head but pursed her lips. “I’m not a Banshee. Jennifer was wrong.” Stiles shrugged. “Well, I guess neither of us are what people think we are.” “You’re still annoying.” He smiled. “You’re still cute. So is your ass.” She shoved up against him. He heard the book close and then Lydia gasped. Stiles looked to the book and felt his jaw drop. Under the flowing lettering, a gold and black figure showed. It was golden triangles pointed at each other and touched at the center of the cover. Two more black triangles pointed into the center but weren’t touching the figure. A horizontal, black line crossed through the golden triangles cutting the figure into symmetrical halves.

“What’d you do?!” Lydia shoved the book back at him and flung her hand up to her chest. He felt the book and tightened as he felt it shudder and heat up further. His earlier thoughts, his memories of the bestiary flowed into his vision and he gasped as his arms tingled to the book. The cover shook and opened in a flurry of pages. In the back of the book, there were a few glowing pages. They lightly shimmered and then returned to normal. The scrawling lettering was crimson still but the words were legible and even understandable. The first set of pages were a chapter on werewolves. The next was about kanimas, druids and durachs in the chapter after that. The final glowing pages had the title Banshee. In the upper right corner of the page was the figure of two golden triangles touching points. Stiles read the one line on the page. “‘The wailing woman calls for Death, as she is part of Fate.’” He looked to Lydia. “Part of fate?” Lydia didn’t make a sound. She barely moved. “This is going to be bad.”


	7. Bricks of Memory Lane

Sitting at his desk, Stiles groaned slightly as another screaming ripped through his speakers. He finally muted the computer and looked at the web-page. A slight knock on his door made him swivel to face his father. John stood in his full uniform and watched Stiles for a few moments. It didn’t take Stiles long to think of something to say after being caught looking at websites that literally screamed at him from the screen.

“Looking good Dad.” His voice came out steady in forced enthusiasm. He hated being alone in the quiet house but the department had finally allowed the sheriff to come back to work from the forced vacation. Stiles forced a smile, slightly guilty as another lie flowed to his teeth and passed through them with ease. “I’m excited for you! New deputy, fresh break. You should be crime fighting for the next few days just to catch up.” John sighed and stepped into the room only to lean against the door. Stiles’ smile caught at his cheeks. Obviously his father wanted to talk about something but didn’t want to threaten Stiles with a crowded room. The smile would have turned genuine if Stiles didn’t have the stress from before weekend. He’d spent most of the evening looking at the book, inspecting each chapter, quietly like Miranda had suggested. When he got to the new chapters, he decided to start to research banshees. Mostly he got pages of animated woman screaming at him which just reminded him of every terrifying moment he’d had since the last year. Each moment reminded him how often he was close to dying, or his dad, or how Derek was no longer around. He gave a quick shake of his head to clear his thoughts of Derek. 

“Stiles. Are you sure you’re okay? You haven’t said a word since you got home yesterday and I got a text from Melissa saying Scott couldn’t get a word from you today either.” Stiles doesn’t give the prying any attention and just stared at his dad hoping the stare would make his dad give up. “Then there’s the screaming.” Stiles pointed to the computer. “It’s just resear-” John shook his head. “I’m not talking about your researching.” Feeling the confusion that set his face, Stiles realized that his dad was using his best technique to get the truth from Stiles. Before he could regain the control over his expressions, his father said, “I mean the ones you were screaming last night while you were sleeping.” His face slipped into guilty and pained expressions, letting Stiles know he’d been caught. He feels colder even though the heating was on and the house had been cozy all day. He minimizes the window on his screen to get rid of any distractions. “I didn’t know I was screaming.” John simply nodded, the worry creased his forehead. Stiles hadn’t noticed the new lines until his father ran a hand through his hair, disheveling it.

“You know, after you were born, I would have awful nightmares.” Stiles leaned back into his chair, pulling a leg under the other one. Making himself smaller would make the sadness that seeped out of his father’s persona less threatening. He kept his eyes focused to his father’s and ignored the jumpy feelings that prickled under his skin. “I dealt with scumbags daily. I’d see a few cases where kids would lose their wills and give up. I saw kidnappings and even some orphaned kids, given up at the shelter’s steps. I kept seeing murder victims of old cases, new cases and all I could dream was that one would sneak in and kill you and your mother.” Stiles tried to gulp the swelling feeling in his throat. He felt if he didn’t do something he’d choke on the emotions that stirred in that lump. “You know what your mother did? She made me tell her exactly what happened in the nightmares. Every detail I could remember. The more I talked to her about it the less I felt scared. She would always pale and then when I was done she’d make me go check every window, door, even in the basement and garage. Then she’d tell me to check on you. I’d come in and sneak up to your crib. You snored even when you were little.” There was smile that even though he was enjoying the memory, John Stilinski was feeling the pain and loss of his wife just as fresh as he had when he had found Stiles at the hospital, suddenly alone in the crowded hospital. “I’d come back to the room and she’d insist on checking on you herself. I’d wait about a minute and come into you room after her. She’d be tearing up saying she wished the world wasn’t cruel and that you could have been given a chance to live a good life without the fear of anything like my nightmares ever happening.” Stiles roughly brushed at his eyes as he remembered the day of the hospital. Holding her hand when every machine had started beeping and going crazy, being yanked away by some nurse he didn’t know and almost thrown into the waiting room with another, kinder nurse trying to tell him everything would be alright. His body numbed just as quickly as it had that day.

“Your mother,” John gave a brisk cough to steady his voice. “Your mother believed that talking about a dream helped you understand the true meaning. That if your fear is there then you can do something about it. There’s always something you can do to make yourself feel safe.” Stiles didn’t move even though his skin was practically crawling. He took a shaky breath and closed his eyes. “What if you think you know what the dream means? What if it’s something that you can’t face because if you do… Because if I do… I might lose the one thing I have left intact that I can’t live without?” His voice came out cracking and straining as he looked into his father’s eyes. He stood up and walked over to his dad and hugged him tightly, tears falling slowly down his cheeks. Refusing to let a sob out he just tightened his hold. “Dad, I don’t know what’s going on with me. I just don’t want to lose you or anyone. I don’t want to lose anyone because of something that I might not be able to control.” His father’s grip tightened. 

“Oh Stiles. If you were going to lose me because of something you can’t control, your mouth would have sent me running ages ago.” Stiles laughed at that and stepped back, pushing his father away slightly. The smile on the sheriff’s face held pain but genuine happiness at the smile he’d brought to Stiles. “I’ll call the station and tell them I need a few more days.” Stiles shook his head furiously. “If you don’t get out of this house you’ll go nuts. Besides, you need to get the new guy into shape for chasing down werewolves.” John sighed and shook his head. “That knowledge is best left for people who don’t know the truth.” Stiles shrugged feeling slightly better. Knowing his dad knew that something was going on but he wasn’t going to pry because Stiles wasn’t ready to talk made him glad his dad was sheriff second and his dad first. They said good-bye and Stiles went back to looking at the screaming pages of the web.

The sudden buzz of his phone made him turn full circle in his chair, shaking his arms to return the blood to his fingertips and elbows. Viewing the message, he rolled his eyes. Another groan escaped as he stood. Sitting for a few hours after lacrosse practice always made him feel sore. Opening the window, he gave enough room for Scott to leap in from the branches that were outside his window. “Dude. You know my dad would have let you in.” Scott gave him a look which Stiles didn’t like. “Yeah, I heard you guys talking. Sorry!” Stiles felt his face change in anger at the invasion of his privacy. “It’s this alpha thing. I had just gotten used to the hearing before and now it’s even better so I’m trying to get it under control as fast as I can.” Stiles decided he’d play subtle revenge and went back to his computer. “So what’d you hear?” Scott paused as the clicking of keys came from under Stiles’ fingers. 

“I started to hear about the time your dad went on about what your mom did for him.” Stiles felt a blush grow on his face and he clicked his mouse off mute and hit enter. The webpage’s animation screamed at full volume and he felt a slight satisfaction as Scott flinched. The satisfaction faded as Scott actually wolfed out slightly. “Dude, claws out of my bed.” Scott grudgingly complied. “What was that?” Stiles muted the site again and reached over for the grimoire. “While I had been talking to Lydia, we started talking about her being a banshee. When she closed the book, this symbol appeared.” He tossed it to Scott who caught it with ease and flipped it over to the cover. Scott’s fingers trailed over the black shapes and line. “Know what it means?” Stiles shook his head. 

“I googled the crap out of the image. I even took a picture of the one on the inside.” Stiles nodded at Scott’s look. “Yeah, it added some pages and some new information. One chapter consisting of werewolves; I read it and all of it was information that I already knew. Then the kanima, it actually includes drawings. They look exactly like Jackson, look at them.” Scott flipped the pages in a rush. “Then the chapter on banshees. It was not even helpful at all. It gives one line and one line only.” He gave Scott time to read it but watched as Scott’s face turned up with a befuddled expression. “What?” Scott showed him the book. Stiles read the title, the line, and looked up to the corner of the page. “I reiterate. What?” Scott points at the line. “I can’t read this.” Stiles takes the book and looks at it. “What do you mean you can’t read it? This is the only normal part of the book.” Scott shook his head. “Then how’d you know it was the right page?” Scott held up his fingers. “You said it was one line. I saw the words at the top and then the one line of writing. I figured that was it.” Stiles rolled his eyes and read the line. Scott’s look didn’t ease the anxious feelings Stiles felt in his chest. 

“What does it mean that she’s a part of fate?” Stiles shrugged. “The others are here.” Stiles tore his eyes from the book and to Scott. “Why?” Scott shrugged. “I called them to meet us here. Dad is still at the house and he’s still on my tail for my late night runs. Then he tries to fight with Mom.” Stiles shakes his head and walks Scott to the front door. Knowing his dad had left almost as soon as Scott had entered his room, Stiles picked up the phone book from the counter beside the fridge. “Hope people brought in money. Might as well order a pizza.” The doorbell rang twice before he found the right page.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I will own up, inspirational song for this Chapter (and a Sterek scene that I want to write now but can't because it's further on!!!! Frustration!!!!) is all due to Loved Me Back to Life by Celine Dion. Oh my gosh I'm so excited!!! Another chapter might emerge tomorrow but I'm not promising anything. Hope you enjoyed!


	8. Pizza Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I said I'd post this yesterday but that kind of didn't happen, Sorry! But it's a lot longer than the others. I'm kind of just setting stuff up at this point which is why it seems so slow. Hope you still like it!

Lydia was the first one to arrive. Mostly because she was punctual but the way she kept looking at Stiles showed that she had come mostly to see if they could talk before anyone else got here. The glare she gave him when he interrupted her had almost sent him stuttering. When Scott answered she rolled her eyes and agreed with him that they should get a pepperoni and an all cheese pizza. It wasn’t much longer before Isaac and Allison showed up. Ethan, being dragged by Aiden, followed and then another car pulled up into the Stilinski drive. Stiles finished up his text to his dad telling him he was having friends over and that he shouldn’t worry because they wouldn’t get too wild. No response and Stiles looked up to see Miranda followed by her incredibly hot brother. He gulped and gave a smile trying hard not to give either of them a quick up-down gaze. “Hi Miranda. Xavier. How did you guys know where to come?” Xavier held up something that looked familiar making a face that was making Stiles feel the same. The sock was obviously Stiles’ and he could tell it was from practice earlier. He took it away with a yank, grumbling that he knew he hadn’t lost it. “It was a simple spell to find out where you were. I had no idea you lived here.” Stiles held up his cell.

“You could have texted. Oh, you guys want stuffed crust?” Four male voices came from the kitchen with a resounding, “YES!” Stiles rolled his eyes and heard a few more voices and knew Allison was peeking her head around the corner. “I think you should get both of those stuffed, Stiles. Hi Miranda.” Turning he met Allison’s curious gaze. Stiles gave a cough as he shut the door behind the last of his guests. “Xavier, meet Allison. Allison, Xavier is Miranda’s brother.” After the rest of the introductions were made, Stiles ordered the pizza, Lydia saying they could pay her instead of trying to split the many bills and used her card for the food. They sat talking about classes of the day and then about lacrosse and the next game day. As soon as the doorbell rang, Stiles ran back to the door with a heavy set of footsteps following. He turned and handed the pizzas off to Xavier in surprise. The guy gave him a soft smile even though no words had slipped the pink lips all evening. Stiles whipped his head as Lydia pointedly shoved her card into his face.

Everyone pretty much attacked the pizza when it had been set on the table. Stiles set out glasses for water and had to explain twice how his father would drink nothing but soda and coffee if he had the chance and Stiles made sure it was either coffee or water because even he needed coffee. They ended up sitting around in Stiles’ room. The twins and Scott all finishing the last few slices of pizza while Lydia sat in his computer chair counting out the bills everyone had given her. Stiles shifted on his bed, looking from Allison who sat on his desk to Miranda who was sitting behind him. He felt a slight blush crawl over him as he realized his desk was littered with pages, crumbled balls of trash, and a few mugs with remains of coffee. Lydia looks up and sees him looking. She picks up a few pages. Stiles’ eyes widen as the grimoire comes into view. Lydia sees it then the mark still on the cover and drops the pages back to hide it. She looks to Stiles, her hand flying to her left clavicle. He sees the motion but looks away to yell at Aiden who dropped a pepperoni on the carpet. Looking back to Lydia he notes she is still holding herself in the same manner.

“So what’s this meeting about?” Isaac spoke up from his spot on the floor in between Allison’s legs. They all turn to Scott, seeing the glare he’d been giving Isaac before he could hide it. Allison gave a sigh but ignored the look. Isaac was frozen. Since Derek had left, he had been following Scott’s lead and it had actually been stressful due to him and Allison being so close when she and Scott weren’t. Stiles would have felt bad if he didn’t feel the stab of jealousy. Pushing it away, he tucked his feet under his legs. Scott just swallowed. “I was thinking that we could go over what we’ve experienced so you can tell us what happened. I already talked to Deaton, my boss, and he has no idea how Stiles has become a mage from the ritual.” Miranda was about to speak when a deep voice broke out from behind her. “Why does your boss know anything? How does he fit into you all and the Darach?” Stiles turned and nearly fell off the bed. Xavier was lying against his pillows and wall, looking casually comfortable even though it wasn’t his space. Stiles took the chance to rake his eyes up the body and then stare at the face that wasn’t what he wanted. He turned away blushing slightly and tried to think of thoughts other than Derek. Lydia coughed lightly and spun in his chair to bring up stuff on his computer. Stiles leapt up and made to grab at the mouse but she had already clicked it on something. A screaming made everyone jump and Stiles stumbled, knocking the chair and Lydia out of the way along with several papers. He clicked out of everything and turned around blushing.

“Scary movie?” Miranda had her face buried into her hands and the twins were smirking at the scene. Stiles gave a slight smile at Aiden. “Maybe it was porn.” He sobered at the thought and this time Xavier snickered. Stiles looked over to him with a grateful smile. Scott went on as though the interruptions were natural. They usually were with Stiles. He picked up the papers and looked over them. Nothing seemed important so he went ahead and crumbled the pages. “Deaton is one of our emissaries.” Stiles watched as the twins gave quiet looks at each other. He bit his lip to refrain from asking if they were sharing a twin thought. “He’s a druid and helped us do a ritual that helped us find the Nematon and our parents.” It appeared that Xavier had been filled in by Miranda about whatever they had talked about at the lunch table without him. He looked to Allison and whispered, “What all did you guys talk about while I was gone?” Scott stood up. “That’s why we’re here Stiles. To catch everyone up.” Stiles nodded, “Yeah okay. Next time I think you should send out an email before meeting with the board.” No one paid him any attention.

“So the ritual was for me, Stiles, and Allison to drown holding something material from our parents. In a sense we’d be the sacrifices for them but we wouldn’t die.” Stiles raised a hand. “At the time we were simply hoping not to die which was going to be a high chance.” Miranda’s face kept changing from anger to fear and back. Xavier’s face remained stoic. Scott went on. We all had visions of where the Nematon was and that’s how we found our parents. Deaton had warned us that when we came back, there’d be darkness. Something that wouldn’t go away. We’d feel, and we do. We feel it every day. All the time.”

Stiles finally looked at him and realized. “You’re having a hard time adjusting to being an Alpha.” Everyone looked over to Scott as he kept a straight face. “Yeah. I didn’t think it would have been this big of a difference. Derek didn’t act different.” Stiles let the chance to comment of how the man grew into a bigger douche than he had been slide by. Ethan sat up straighter. “It shouldn’t have been a difference in your senses. It should have only been in your strength and power.” Scott looked at him. “Maybe it’s because you’re a true Alpha.” Xavier jerked and leaned toward the edge of the bed. Miranda leapt up and took steps toward Scott. 

“You’re a true Alpha?!” She was barely audible but Scott nodded. “Do you know the odds of that happening? Centuries could go by without a werewolf rising to Alpha by nature.” Scott shrugged. “I didn’t want to kill anyone because I didn’t want the power. Now I know I can use it for protecting those I care about.” Miranda’s face softened and she cocked her head to the side. “You’ve not killed anyone?” Scott shook his head. “I did almost kill Gerard.” Stiles yelped. “Almost? He was lying in a pool of black blood. How could he not have died?” Allison spoke up. “He’s in a nursing home being researched because his cancer is gone but his body is producing black blood. No one’s seen anything like it.” She gave wounded look to Miranda. “Gerard is my grandfather.” Xavier nodded like he understood. When he opened his mouth, Stiles expected a joke. “Miranda said you were an Argent, why isn’t your grandfather living with the matriarch?” Allison’s gaze narrowed. “She wasn’t going to have it. How do you know the workings of my family’s order?” Xavier simply shrugged.

“I approve of their beliefs. People have been hunted for too long. Werewolves- Most. Werewolves. Most werewolves are monsters.” He raised his hands in defense against the other werewolves. The twins both growled and Isaac’s eyes flashed a brilliant yellow before searching Scott’s reaction. His eyebrows were furrowed. “No one here has killed anybody.” Stiles pulled his hand from where he had crossed his arms, leaving the other one to hug his chest, and moved it toward the twins. “They killed someone. We watched as he died.” His hand clutched to his shirt tighter and he thought about the look on Derek’s face as he tried to stop the bleeding from Boyd’s chest. Thinking of it made Stiles’ face heat up and his stomach flip. He wanted to find Derek and hold him close with that memory. The wolves must have sensed the change because they all were sniffing at him. He felt his ears go red but continued to avoid the stairs. “Boyd’s gone and it’s because they helped.” Ethan was the first of the twins to break the anger on his face into one of remorse. “That was before we learned about Deucalion and Ennis. We did it for revenge and now we are sorry. We’ve lost the Alpha pack. We’re by ourselves and… Well…” He looked to Aiden who glared away from all of them. “We were hoping to stick around and see how a good pack would work. Without treating the weak Omegas poorly.” Aiden’s mouth twisted into a growl as the memories seemed to bubble up. 

Stiles felt a little awkward at having brought out the worst in the twins. Lydia coughed. “They died trying to save me. They’re trying to make up for it, Stiles.” Her voice was a little prissier than usual. He looked over to her and she flicked down to his crotch and he blushed harder. “Give them a chance to change their… paths.” Stiles felt his face pale as he heard the pause and Lydia change the word she hadn’t spoken He replied. “Change their fate…” Lydian gave an indignant toss of her hair. Allison looked over at him. “That was a weird thing to say.” Stiles shrugged. “I liked the way it sounded more like Lord of the Rings.” Xavier hopped to the side of Stile’s bed. “I still have some questions for you Allison, if you wouldn’t mind.” Stiles got the impression he wasn’t interested in the rest of the wolves. Isaac shifted in the floor, moving his legs where he could rest his arms onto his knees. Allison’s hand fell and brushed his shoulder. He kept his mouth shut. Stiles pretended he hadn’t seen it. “Yeah sure. What do you want to know?” “Who’s your matriarch? She might need to meet with our grand mage in order to discuss what has been happening and possibly further explain how to deal with you and Lydia.” Their faces opened up and he raised his hands. “You two are humans. You two need protection because some things are coming. Dangerous things and the grand mage will have to know what your family will be doing in order to set up better protection for the town.”   
Allison’s voice held a glare in it. “The matriarch made a new motto for the family. We protect those who need the protection. We’re set in doing that. The matriarch of my family is me.” Stiles sighed as they began to stare down. “Seriously?” Xavier’s condescending voice was enough to rile Allison’s emotions. Stiles grabbed the grimoire and took it out and walked out of the room. He didn’t feel like listening to arguing. Scott and the twins watched him walk out. He shrugged and gave a shake of his head so he didn’t have to listen. He went into the kitchen and filled up a glass for water. He settled against the counter. Lydia came stomping down the stairs. “Okay, he’s an ass.” Stiles coughed as water stuck in his throat. He put down the glass and reached for a paper towel as Lydia went on. “We get him pizza and actually invite him, he was invited right?” Stiles shook his head. “Scott’s the one who organized this thing not me. His folks are giving him a hard time at home right now.” Lydia shook her head. 

“What’s his dad doing here anyways? Doesn’t he have a job to do?” Stiles shook his head again. “If you want to know ask Scott.” This time Lydia is the one who shook her head. “One thing divorced kids hate is being asked about is if their parents are getting along. Everyone knows the answer but the kids have to smile and lie through it any ways. It’s obvious that divorce works. The shouting matches end, you get two Christmases. You don’t have to worry about a migraine if you eat breakfast at the table.” Stiles couldn’t look at her. She was speaking from experience and he’d opened up to her enough. She gave a growl and took one of the glasses on the counter for water. Stiles laughed and she glared at him. “I’ve gotten that from Aiden. He growls if I want something and he doesn’t. It’s usually about where to go on a date and when.” Stiles gave her a low stare. “Maybe it’s because you’re maintenance isn’t what he can handle.” She gave him her famous prissy-look. “If this is where you tell me that you can handle it, you’d be unfathomably wrong, Stilinski.” He took another drink of water. He lifted the book and flipped through a few pages. He couldn’t resist and wanted to see how it felt again. 

“Koob etativel…” Dropping his hand a little, he watched the book as it floated in front of him. He felt the surge this time. A pulse came down his arms, spreading through his palm like a cloud of color in water, starting from a drop then spreading into a cloud. Then it flowed into his fingers making them feel like his lips when he hummed, a warmth but a strain at the same time. His skin holding back what felt explosive and instead made it a slow push from his hand to the book. Stiles focused and moved his hand lower to see if he could keep the book at its level. The humming feeling in his fingers lightened to a light thrumming feeling as more energy seemed to be released. He continued to control the discharge of energy with light focus as he made the book stay level. Finally bringing his hand down to his side, he pushed the book toward the counter and lowered it, thinking of the energy flow being contained instead of its trickling down his arm. The book lightly dropped onto the counter, the thud hard to hear over mulling voices above them. Lydia stared. “I guess this is the real deal, huh?” Stiles nodded.

“So what did you find out about banshees?” Stiles didn’t make eye contact with Lydia. “I know that’s what you were doing. Don’t try to play dumb with me. I pretty much know all of your secrets now. Like serious secrets. If you are my friend you have to help me figure this thing out.” Stiles shrugged and finally made eye contact with her. “The only thing I found out was that no one knows much about them. Some say they kill with their screams, but we definitely know that’s not true. We all have heard your screams.” Lydia nodded and rolled her eyes, her smile turning tight to bite back snide comments. “It seems to me that your screams mark people who are dead or about to die.” Lydia shook her head. “It can’t be. Think of all the people that died because of Peter. I would have screamed when they died right?” Stiles chewed on one of his fingers while he contemplated a new theory. Thudding lead him to watch the stairs. Ethan and Aiden both came down. Ethan was clearly upset. He glared at the glass on the counter and Stiles was sure he would break it. Looking at the book again, Stiles read a few more lines and realized the writing was backwards. “Backwards…” Lydia gave him a look before Aiden drew her attention with a growl. Stiles looked up and decided to try it. He spread his fingers out and lifted his hand to the glass. The pulling of energy surged down his arm again.

“Puc evom.” The cup jumped and fell over, rolling to the edge of the counter. Ethan leapt back and yelped. He caught the cup and glared at Stiles. Stiles felt his mouth gaping but didn’t close it. “Holy shit… I can do magic.” Lydia looked from the cup back to Stiles and then to Aiden. “What’s wrong with him?” Ethan was still looking at the cup and then to Stiles. Stiles gave a swift glare at Lydia. “Ignore me then.” He motioned for Ethan to put the cup back but the werewolf’s growl turned to grumbling. “Ethan wants to tell Danny about everything. Even offer him the bite.” Aiden explained, flicking his gaze from Stiles back to Lydia. “But the bite could kill some people. Would you really want to take the risk?” The words blurted out from his mouth before he could act on his filter. Stiles acted as though he should have a right to say the words before getting his throat ripped out. Lydia grew pale and looked to Stiles. Ethan slammed the glass onto the counter.  
“It’d be his choice. I will tell him the dangers and he can choose or not. I’m not going to force him. I love him.” Stiles could tell by the raising tone of his voice that the wolf in him was getting antsy. Aiden must have sensed it too because he gave Lydia a kiss and escorted Ethan out of the house without another word. Stiles watched as they each got on their bikes and drive off. When he turned to Lydia, she was scrabbling with a few buttons on her blouse. Stiles blushed and was about to make a comment before she rolled her eyes. “Look Stiles. Just look.” Under her shoulder, around her clavicle, a huge bite mark spread over a tattoo he hadn’t known she had. Stiles gulped as he remembered homecoming. “Is that where he?” She nodded but it was more in desperation. “Look what’s in it.” Stiles leaned in and felt his mouth drop again. He grabbed the grimoire and flipped to the last page. In the top right corner of the page was the same symbol on Lydia. The two triangles touching points etched on the page and scribed over her skin. “People turn to werewolves from the bite. Those who don’t die. I’m not a werewolf and I’m not dead.” Stiles looked up to meet her eyes. “Is it his fault I’m…?” A tear trailed down her cheek.


	9. War Under the Stars

Lydia had run after her boyfriend and her fears, leaving Stiles to make up an excuse for her early departure but he ended up merely shrugging. Allison and Isaac left shortly after needing space from Xavier’s comments that still stung to Allison’s emotions. Scott stumbled down the stairs after Miranda and Xavier. Stiles sat on the stool and merely raised an eyebrow, keeping his voice from freaking out by not using it. Scott gave him a weary glance that lead into a sigh and groan of exhaustion. “We weren’t here long but I feel like we’ve been arguing all day.” Stiles shrugged keeping his mouth shut from his inner tension. “Maybe because you’ve had apprehension for the meeting. Miranda told me about your discussions at lunch. How they were heated.” Scott sighed. “But they shouldn’t have been. I thought all of this was done.” Stiles laughed in bitterness and gave a sarcastic nod with jerky movements. “Because we haven’t thought that before.” Scott just looked at him. “We thought it was done after Matt died, but guess what? No such luck. Sorry to bust the dream but the clock won’t strike midnight for the fantasies to end. We’re stuck living in nightmares until-” The lump that had been growing in his throat finally cut off his voice.

The look of pity from the others caused his stomach to churn and flip indignantly. He angrily flipped a page in the grimoire to distract himself. “Stiles. It’s not your fault.” Scott began but Stiles interrupted.

“Oh, I know for a fact that it’s not my freakin’ fault. It’s all because of Peter.” Scott looked down to his feet knowing Stiles was going to start a tirade. “He’s the one who bit you. He’s the one that attacked or has been a part of any plot to attack any one of us. He was the one-” Scott finally exploded. “The one that was forced to listen to his family suffer and burn, remain in a hospital to do nothing but rot and you think it wouldn’t affect him? We almost lost our parents. We almost died because of it. All of us. Allison, me, you- We all almost lost everything. It wasn’t just you, Stiles!I was the one bit. Allison was born into the family that actually hunts werewolves!” He paused and took in a low breath. “You were just dragged in. I’m sorry it happened, I am, man.” Stiles tapped a finger on the counter. “It’s cool. I’ve just… I’ve just been dealing with some personal stuff and it’s starting to freak me out and make me more paranoid. I don’t really know what’s going on.” At this Xavier stepped forward.

“We could commune.” While Miranda blushed and shook her head behind her brother, Stiles made a look of bewilderment at her as he questioned, “What’s that? What’s communing?” Miranda sighed and slumped against the counter on a stool beside her, her head shaking slightly before Xavier explained. “It’s a spell, more like a ritual, that helps share memories and knowledge between those who perform the ritual. We take each other’s hands.” He gripped onto Stiles’ hands, Stiles delaying the urge to yank his hands away and back to his sides. “Then the one taking the memories or knowledge says the spell.” He closed his eyes and started to mutter. Stiles gasped as Derek’s face came up behind his now closed eyes. It was a memory, a fresh memory from the day before about an imagination. The scruff feeling of bristling against his neck wasn’t real. Just imagined like the teeth that slid and every so often pricked at his skin. The hand that slid down his chest was real, the rough and calloused feeling wasn’t. The static churning in his stomach and gut, jumping to his lungs and then to his chest making him shudder was tantalizingly real. The gasp that escaped his lips. That was real. The moan was real. Stiles felt a surge of Xavier’s presence and the mark on the grimoire suddenly appeared and rotated slightly in his mind’s eye. Stiles jerked back.

“Stop.” He was blushing and couldn’t look away from Scott’s gaze. Not even the heat of embarrassment was making him break the contact. Xavier was blushing as well. He coughed and made a motion for Miranda to leave. “Sorry, stiles. I didn’t realize how… raw you and your imagination were.” Stiles didn’t say a word. His mouth was frozen in a tight lock of heated humiliation and an even more heated anger. Miranda waved good-bye and rushed out the door before her brother. When the door was closed Scott waited for a few minutes. Stiles closed the grimoire and pushed it to the center of the island and waited for Scott to speak. “So… What was that?” Stiles gave another shrug and he felt Scott push against his shoulder. He rounded on his friend but stopped when he saw the worry on his face. A sigh pushed the anger out of his body. “I don’t know. Why?” Scott blushed a little bit. “You moaned. Like one of those having great sex moans.” Stiles felt his ears go pink in that comment and he averted his gaze to look at the grimoire. 

“Did he catch a memory of you jerking off to Miranda?” Stiles recoiled. “No! God no! I lost interest the moment she told me I was a mage. Kind of put a new spin on my already tornado of a life. Starting to feel bad, let me off the ride please.” Scott kept pushing. “Was it Lydia?” Stiles just looked at him. He could see his reflection in the window. The sun had set during the meeting so his pale face was a clear site for him. The worry and sadness that he saw in there, he wondered if even he pitied the poor soul that stared back at him. Make his gaze fall to Scott he pulled his features into a rough smile. “Yeah. It was totally Lydia. Had to be right? No other woman for this Stilinski.” Scott rolled his eyes. “Liar but whatever. Hey want to watch a movie?” He reached for the popcorn without hearing an answer. Stiles smiled. “Movie night with my best bud? How could that turnout badly?” Scott winced a little. This got a shove from Stiles. “What was that look for?”

Scott gave a shrug this time. “I mean, you were right. We’re never done with anything. And you just keep getting dragged into every new mess that comes up.” Stiles pushed his friend again. “Shut up. We’re just stressed okay? No need to start this all over again. I could have punched you for making sense.” Scott scoffed and put the popcorn into the microwave. Stiles grabbed the grimoire, it being something like a comfort to him. That struck him as weird. He picked out a movie as Scott walked into the room. He groaned. “Seriously?” Stiles threw him an exasperated look. “You said you’d watch Star Wars. Now’s the perfect chance! We’re starting with A New Hope because it was the original and that’s how I got started.” Scott made a face. “Last time you made us watch 300 for like the four hundredth time.” Stiles pointed out. Scott kept up his face but sat on the couch anyways. Stiles popped in the disc and pushed play when the menu came on. 

The music started and Scott started to talk. “You don’t think Allison and Isaac have-” Stiles took the popcorn bowl away from him. “Shh! We are not focusing on any of that right now. We’re focusing on the start of your new obsession.” Scott groaned and settled in, stealing back the bowl of popcorn. Half way through the movie that Scott wasn’t watching, Stiles finally gave up on trying to make his friends stop texting whoever he was texting and tried to enjoy the movie. He suddenly felt this push by his side. He turned to look but nothing was there. “Figment…” Scott didn’t look up from his phone. “What?” Stiles shook his head as the pushing feeling came again. This time it surrounded him. He rolled his shoulders but it didn’t relieve any of the pressure. Scott suddenly jumped up. “I can hear something. Someone’s here. A few people.” Stiles thought about what Miranda had said about feeling his aura. He took in a deep breath and focused as hard as he could on the pushing feeling. He could just feel that there were six different auras pulsing and pushing against him. 

“Scott. I think they’re witches. Or mages I don’t know. But there are six.” Scott nodded and shifted with a low growl. Stiles shook his head. “They shouldn’t know you’re you right?” Scott shrugged and shifted back. “Didn’t Miranda know?” Stiles was about two say he’d forgotten when Scott cocked his head. “There are two of them.” Stiles knew he was listening to the conversation outside. “One’s different. The other is extremely powerful. The Clearwater clave has been here.” Stiles muttered a curse under his breath and opened the grimoire. He began to flip pages frantically when he thought of something. “Show me ways of attack and defense. Please.” He didn’t know why he added please. He felt weird talking to a book. Scott moved the popcorn bowl to the table as he moved away from the couch. The grimoire glowed softly, like it knew the situation had grown into something troubling. The pages flew closer to the center of the book and then the glow focused around a few words. Stiles read them backwards first then forwards. 

“Blast, Barrier, Shield?” Stiles groaned. They sounded more like video game options that he would use online to him. Then the words shown a little brighter and floated off the page. They listed themselves in front of his face and then more scripture seemed to be being written after them in the air. Stiles looked to Scott and back to the floating words in front of him. After the words stopped appearing, Stiles read starting with the first spell. “Focused energy blasting from the extension toward enemy. Deflection of magical attacks. Blocking of physical.” Stiles gave a chuckle feeling excited about being able to fight for once. “I’m ready to play. You?” Scott nodded and they heard a blast from the back of the house. Stiles yelped. Apparently he wasn’t ready. He focused his mind and practiced the first command silently. As soon as the first two figure ran around the corner, Scott shifted and shoved them both into the hallway again. They obviously didn’t see it coming. Stiles ran past him toward the back door. “Scott! Four in the front!” He heard the growl and then the door opening. A loud roar and the people outside screamed and shouted things. Stiles looked down at the two at his feet. They were stirring. He felt the surge in his right arm explode down to his wrist. He locked it there and took a few steps back. The brief thought of what the spell would look like entered his mind. He thought if it could just skim over the walls and simply hit the two mages and not tear up the house would have been amazing. 

Stiles let the power trickle and spread to his fingers and palm. He felt the hum under his skin. He flung out his arm, focusing only a little power and yelled, “Tsalb!” The blast fanned out from his palm in a whitish rinse. It passed over the walls until it got to the moaning men. They yelled as they were flung out closer to the door. Stiles grinned and laughed. He ran to the front of the house and ducked as something flew over his head. He looked up to see it was a large rock. He heard a roar from Scott. He ran out and nearly peed his pants. Scott was battling four different people, cornered between them. Stiles decided to cast the barrier spell. He pushed out his arm and whispered, “Reirrab.” A blue circle with strange writing in it appeared around Scott. The pentagram inside it glowed red as it passed through him. Scott roared again taking a charge at one of the mages. The man uttered a scream before being punched in the face. Scott flew to the next mage while Stiles grinned. He focused his thoughts again, hoping the blast he made would simply hit the one was aiming at. He yelled out the word just as the man turned around and he saw the white pulse into a circle and fly into the man’s chest. The man flew backward and slammed into Scott. Stiles winced. He’d have to tell him sorry. 

Another voice yelled and stiles looked behind him as two pairs of hands flung out to him. He felt his body constrict and he screamed as something rough tightened a hold around him. He fell off his steps and cried out when he hit the ground. “Didn’t think a kid this green could pull off that kind of power.” The voice didn’t sound familiar. It sounded young though. An older voice came from the other mage that was now standing over him. “He’s green alright. Those were basic spells. The grimoires have the energy to know when their mage is in danger and, based on his skill level, give him spells to match it. The fact that the power was intense even for some basic spells means he’ll be of use to us. Take him leave his friend.” Scott’s next roar cut off and he fell to ground as a rock struck his head. Stiles yelled out. For some reason his neighbors weren’t even reacting. No lights came on. The street was quiet. Stiles felt the push of the others as they gathered around him. He squirmed as one of them spoke words he couldn’t understand. He felt the affect as the spell crawled over him and then sent him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I hated the spells I'm sorry. But I figured since he is still new to the spell casting, the grimoire should at least be easy for him. Hopefully you liked this! Feedback is always appreciated thanks!


	10. The Clave

“Stiles!” Scott screamed, momentarily losing his focus to keep his shift. He began to run forward but a blast of one of the mage’s spells sent him tumbling. He flipped over his back and looked up to watch them all begin to walk away. He tried to run after them but this time a spell trapped him where he stood, mid-shift. He growled and felt helpless as the men sent back through the house, the door closing. Scott pushed against the magic that was holding him. “Stiles! No!” The ripping in his throat from screaming his friend’s name came out with a crack in his voice. He felt his eyes glow red as he felt the pain from his muscles, the pain of Stiles being kidnapped, the pain of letting it happen. He finally shifted fully. He felt it begin in his stomach, a low rumble as he leapt up the lawn and into the house. Nothing seemed to have been touched. He ran through the house and noted that everything seemed right. He was sure that he had seen cracks in the wall when he shoved the first two guys. The wall was no longer marred. He looked into the living room and noted the grimoire still on the table. He picked it up. Stiles had told him it was warm to touch but the pages were freezing. Flipping through, the words seemed to bleed and warp in his eyesight. He wasn’t able to read the book. What made Stiles able to?

He walked back outside finally unable to hold in the emotions. He let the low rumble climb its way to his lungs as they swelled deeply with air to the point where they felt like they could burst. He looked up to the sky and parted his fangs. He expected a roar or maybe a scream. The howl that burst out reverberated through the neighborhood. All life froze. The wind even seemed to stop. His voice carried far and the echoes sounding just as mournful, depressed, and enraged. Scott lowered his head when he felt the vibration of his phone. He pulled it out and answered. “Allison.” That’s when he heard the other calls. One louder and closer. That one sounded as enraged and terrifying as his. “Scott? What’s going on? I heard the call and Isaac flipped. He got angry and shifted, right in front of my dad by the way, and tore off out of the house. What’s-” Scott growled and she stopped talking. “Some clave of mages came and kidnapped Stiles. Get to his house. Now.” He didn’t wait for a response and hung up. He called Miranda. She answered a little breathless. “Yes?” Scott merely said, “Stiles’ house. Bring your clave.” He hung up and watched as a figure came bounding up, eyes flashing in anger. Aiden stood up to Scott and growled furiously. “Some guys attacked Ethan and Danny. They’re gone.” Scott looked a little shocked. Aiden sniffed and growled. “You smell like Ethan’s bike did.” Scott took a step towards him. “Is it something you recognize?” Aiden growled and shook his head. Scott could tell what he was thinking but he felt his own eyes bleed into the red power the surged behind his eyes. The red that made his heart pulse with fury. “Then we have some hunting to do.” A car pulled around the corner of the street and sped down the drive toward the Stilinski house. A shadow passed in front of the lights and Isaac pulled up snarling. The driver gunned the car and parked it. The heels clicked on the concrete. Lydia took one look at Scott. “Where’s Stiles?”

Aiden snarled again and put a fist into the closest object. The Stilinski trash can. Scott motioned for all of them to go into the house. One of the neighbors came out and watched the group of kids as they entered the house. Scott ignored the man yelling for them to keep down the noise. “I don’t know what’s going on but I’ve already called Miranda. She’s on her way.” Isaac nodded. “I think Allison might be coming.” Scott nodded. “I kind of… Well…” Scott growled and Isaac shut his mouth. He sighed. “Sorry. It’s Stiles. Allison called me after you left and told me. She’s on her way.” They only had to wait for a few minutes. Aiden paced and growled the whole time. Scott didn’t move from his seat on the stool by the island. Isaac sat on the steps of the stairs watching the door. Lydia was the one to answer. She let Allison and her father know he was in the kitchen and waited by the door for the clave. Scott turned around, knowing his red eyes were still glowering at the rest of the world. Allison was geared up, tight black sweatshirt, light jeans covered her legs and her combat boots were tight, hiding some knives most likely. Her father came in looking similar but he had a fully automatic slung over his shoulder. “So.” His voice rumbled from his chest as he gave Scott a stern look. “Witches? I’ve not had the chance to face one.” Scott only nodded before saying, “I wouldn’t have gone in without you. They have Danny and Ethan too.” 

Allison’s stone faced slipped slightly but it merely showed her furious. “Then I guess we get them back. As soon as possible.” Scott shook his head. “We wait.” A light knock on the door and Lydia spoke for a few moments before walking away from the door. More people shuffled in after her and Scott motioned for behind the Argents. They all stepped away as an elderly man was escorted by Lydia into the kitchen. Aiden sniffed and growled loudly. Scott held back his own displeasure. The man nodded a respectful greeting to Scott and the rest. Miranda stood forward. “This is our grandmage. He’s our… Alpha to put it simply.” Scott sniffed again and sneered at the magical smell. “What are your rulings of protecting your own?” The old man stared at him blankly at first. Miranda stood behind the man and seemed to hold her breath.

“We protect the clave. Then we protect the magic. Protecting the witch of a different clave is not unheard of, some even support it. Why do you ask?” Scott snarled in response. “They attacked me and my pack. They kidnapped members of our pack.” Aiden’s pacing hitched at the comment but resumed as though he hadn’t heard. “I was wondering before we went in with teeth and claws that we wouldn’t have to fight your clave.” Miranda put a hand on the old man before he could respond. “Stiles is part of your pack, but we would like to see him be with the clave. I will help you even if it’s against the wishes of my clave.” She pecked a quick kiss on the old man’s cheek and strode forward to the island beside Scott. Xavier followed close behind. Scott looked over and the older man shrugged. “I watch out for my sister.” The old man watched and then gave a glare. “I see you’ve won over my grandchildren. As though they do not know where their pasts reminders are.” He glared at Scott. “You don’t know the history of this clave, nor the order of the world that you live in. You are young and rash. But-” He cut a glare to Isaac who had leapt up to act on protecting Scott’s honor. “You’ve face much. If Stiles is important to you then we will not only allow this mission but assist. How many mages were here?” Scott gave him a look of suspicion. “How do you know they were mages?” Xavier spoke up. “Magic gives off energy, it’s how we found Stiles. There’s been a lot released here. Including a silencing charm.” Scott gave him a look before Lydia spoke. “Good thing then. Scott’s howl was so loud my windows shook.” Scott ignored the impressed looks from his friends and instead lifted the grimoire off the counter. 

“I don’t know if we could use this to track Stiles.” The old man reached out and ran his fingers over the cover, his knuckles turning white. “What have you done to this book?” Scott merely shrugged. “Nothing, why?” The man rapped his other hand on the cover. “This mark! What does it mean?” Scott shrugged. Scott ignored Lydia as she walked to the sink and stared out the window. Aiden made a way to stand next to her. Scott hoped he would calm down before anyone was killed. “I don’t know. Stiles showed it to me earlier. We never got a chance to discuss it.” Argent strode forward. “What’s your name? If we’re going to be allies then we should know your names.” The old man grumbled slightly. “Clearwater for me. The clave can introduce themselves if they want.” The bony fingers ran over the lines, the gold shimmering slightly as the gnarled knuckles passed over. Scott and wondered why he wouldn’t open it. Clearwater shook his head. “I can’t use this. Too much energy has been passed into the pages. I doubt anyone could sense this as a grimoire anymore. Which explains why it was left behind. No one would think that a young mage like Stiles could be this in tune with his grimoire.”

Scott watched the old man and sniffed for emotions and listened to his heartbeat. “Why do I have the feeling you’re hiding something?” Clearwater didn’t bother raising an eye. “Because I am. We needn’t discuss it. None of your concern, wolf.” Isaac growled and Aiden scuffed his foot across the floor. Scott raised a quick finger. His eyes were glowing red over the disrespect. Argent turned around to look at Scott. His heart was pounding, his senses fluctuating. He blinked before he finally cleared his throat. “Well, it is. Stiles is part of my pack. And will remain so. Whatever you’re thinking about, him becoming a mage in your clave? Stop. It’s not happening.” Clearwater finally raised his eyes to meet’s Scott’s. 

“The dog is clever.” Scott’s growl came out far more forcefully than he had intended. Isaac actually shifted and He heard Aiden growl behind him. The Argents backup up closer to Lydia, making a stance to protect her should anything happen. Most of the clave stumbled back away from Scott, even Miranda and Xavier. Clearwater looked the young werewolf up and down assessing him. Scott stood up taller and took a step closer to the man. “Stiles and I are more than just best friends. We’ve been through a lot and losing each other is not an option. If I can make sure that never happens I will with all of my power.” Clearwater sniffed slightly like he wasn’t impressed. Scott could tell otherwise. The wariness rose off him in a stink of pheromones. It smell like a child, scared of a monster it doesn’t know. Scott stood up and walked away. 

“Xavier. Figure out a way we can track this Stiles. The grimoire is out of the question. Find something before his awakening.” Lydia ran upstairs with Xavier. Scott heard the start of a complaint coming from the old man’s throat. He cut him off. “Lydia’s been getting close to Stiles for a few months now. She’s more attentive than I am of his little things and will be a help in finding something personal for any tracking spells.” He didn’t have to see the glare that bore into his head. “You know a lot about magic, Wolf.” He turned around. “My name is Scott McCall. And this isn’t the first time we’ve had to resort to a tracking spell or ritual to find someone we all cared about.” Allison took in a breath. “Stiles used his dad’s badge as a connection. Maybe we could use that to find Stiles.” A new voice came from behind the group of mages and witches.

“That particular object only has connection between Stiles and his father. If John were to be part of the spell or ritual then it could be used. If not then we will need something else.” The man came forward the same way his soft voice had floated through the air with caution and gentleness resonating from his body. Alan Deaton clapped a hand on Scott’s shoulder. “We’ll find him Scott. Don’t worry. Calm down.” Scott took a breath, swallowed his anger, and sat back down on the stool. “Druid.” Alan turned to look back at Clearwater with a smile. “Mark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter even though there isn't either Stiles or Derek. But I hope to put the next chapter in their situation (Yes Derek is coming in very soon I know I'm squealing because of it!!!!) and I hope it's fantastic. I keep getting this feeling that I'm not doing this piece justice but I love the attention it's getting and the comments! Thank you all for the support and I hope you continue to enjoy!


	11. Witches Wrath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extremely dark and violent! Still hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Stiles looked around but the darkness had creeped in all around him, squeezing him in a suffocating hold. He swallowed the fear caused by the embrace. A light erupted into the middle of the room. Chained against the wall, lifted a few feet of the ground was Ethan. He was swinging slightly, his face, mid-shift and tear-stained. Stiles forced out a choked “No…” By a dark opening lay Danny. He was lying down, seemingly asleep. The side of his face held the site of a black rash and his chest was still. Stiles shook his head as the fear he tried to swallow almost heaved up his throat. He rushed to the body but was yanked backwards and realized he was chained up against the cold stone wall opposite of Ethan. Then a wheeze made him stiffen. He turned to find a table off to his left. On the table he saw the body. The taut muscles ravaged with open cuts and slices. The tan skin bristled with black hairs was marred with the deep red that still dripped from the corner of the steel. The mouth lay open with a silent scream, the eyes searching for hope through the pain and nightmare. Stiles felt his body go numb and his lungs refused to work. The shaking of his head brought back some feeling.

“His love is being extinguished by his guilt and pain for bringing it close to darkness earns the breath to be extracted from his lungs.” Stiles looked up and for some reason couldn’t scream as the dark figure in front of him stared openly at Ethan. The figure’s dark head was bowed, almost in respect. It turned slightly, pulling the darkness with it as it made its way over to Danny. Stiles shook the chains because the words were lost on his tongue. Silent screams reaching out from his mind. “Death is painful though the soul is clean. Unearned suffering leading to future justices.” The darkness turned away from the body and took more steps to Derek’s still body. “Lost and confused has led him to choices that he limits purely out of protection. The fear of being ostracized makes him push away from others. Death is his only solace and friend. The care of others cut into his defenses and walls.” The figure turns fully, the darkness pulling back to cover the wall behind it. Stiles realized the darkness wasn’t the absence of light. It was a pair of wings. The wings stretched out strong behind the back of a youth. Stiles couldn’t see the eyes behind the orange flames in their places but he found his voice in order to ask a question. “How Danny?” The Danny with wings looks at him with the flames. “Through justice and punishment.” The darkness closed in again.

Stiles’ body racks against the wall as the air was sucked into his lungs. He looked around, feeling his face wet with tears from the nightmare. He yanked at his wrists to find that part of the nightmare had been true. He was chained to a concrete wall. He heard the whispering and he looked across the dimmer room. He squinted to find that the person on the opposite wall was Ethan. Stiles yelled, this time, his voice sounded loud against the silence he had feared. The young wolf started and the chains rattled against the sound of choking. The chains stopped rattling and a growl emerged from the darkness. “Stiles? I swear if you scare me into strangling myself then I will come back to kill you.” Stiles turned, the chains behind him clinking eerily and painfully to his ears. “Is Danny okay?” A strained groan and the reply “No, he’s not,” came back from Ethan. “How did you know he was here?” Stiles shrugged before remembering he couldn’t be seen. “I don’t know. I just kind of did…” He figured if they survived he could tell the truth later. “What happened to you?”

“After the meeting I called Danny because I was going to tell him. He said he wanted to take a quick ride so we went on my bike. Somehow I lost control and we both fell off. I’m okay but it was a bad wreck. Danny was really hurt and I don’t think it’s going to be long before…” His voice died off and Stiles felt the choking lump in his throat again. “He won’t die Ethan. You can get free and bite him.” He thinks he can see a nod but Stiles doesn’t hear another word from him. He turns his head to his left and sees the table. Restrained was an unconscious Derek. His skin tan and brushed with black hairs. Stiles blushes to realize he is naked. He’s glad Ethan couldn’t see in the dark. But Stiles opened his mouth anyway. “Can werewolves see in the dark?” A growl warned him to keep quiet but Ethan answered anyway. “Alphas can. Why?” Stiles closed his mouth and shook his head in embarrassment. “No reason.” Ethan scoffed with anger and Stiles could actually see his red eyes shifting. “You’re stuck somewhere where you are probably going to die and you’re horny?” The incredulity of his voice made Stiles blush even more.

“Just shut up and try to break free. We have to figure out what’s going on and how to get out of here. How long have I been asleep?” Ethan’s chains rattled and his breath became strained for a second. Stiles panicked before he heard the man gasping for air. “I don’t know. I just know I’ve been at this for a few hours.” Stiles felt his jaw drop and then his gut turn cold. “How long do you think you could last?” Ethan didn’t respond with any words but a slight grunt was heard. Stiles turned to where he suspected Danny to be and called out his name. The groan that came back didn’t reassure Stiles that his class mate was all right. He turned toward Derek and took in breath hoping he wasn’t already dead. He yelled for Derek to wake up but his eyes never moved. Stiles sighed and yanked again against the chains. There was a slam and footsteps. Stiles saw a light begin to emerge from a darkened hallway. Stiles yanked again hurriedly and gasped at the pain in his wrists after a few pulls.

“Well. This is an interesting catch.” The voice belonged to an elderly woman who came forward and pulled at Stiles’ chin. He yanked back but had to gasp in pain as he hit his head against the wall. She smiled with a grin sending shivers down his spine. “I’m Lenelle, my boy. You should learn the name well. We’re going to become close.” Stiles shook his head. “You’ve kidnapped me and my friends. I don’t think I’ll be getting close to you. I don’t really like it. Especially when you touch me.” She smiled and looked around. “Yes, I’ve come to see that you hold interesting friends. The werewolves do tend to attract misfortune. I learned that this one cares for the human.” She took a few quick steps at the struggling Ethan. He had been holding himself above the ground for what seemed like a while. Lenelle froze and Stiles felt anxious. She flipped her wrist and barked out a few words. Ethan screamed and Stiles could see with the new light that blood trickled down from under the cuffs around his wrists. The chain seemed shorter too. 

Stiles yanked harder against his chain and cried out as one of his wrists actually popped. Testing it, he knew it was just the bones popping nothing serious. She laughed a little at Ethan’s screams. Stiles watched with anger and terror as she roamed over to Danny. She clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth making a tutting sound. “Poor boy. Handsome and innocent in all of this. Much like other victims. Isn’t that right, mutt?” She turned around quickly and slapped at Ethan’s side. Stiles hadn’t noticed the red stains around his stomach and Stiles felt bile rise into his throat. He had to swallow to force himself from vomiting and showing this witch a weakness. She walked over to Derek and Stiles felt every muscle in his body seize. She picked up a knife and shook her head. “This one keeps healing. Had him for a week and haven’t made any progress except that the healing process is one of their greatest abilities. The strength of course.” Stiles didn’t want to listen. The way she was speaking made him want to curl up next to the toilet or a trashcan. 

“You sound like someone in a biology class…” It was a whisper, a fear that he didn’t want to be true, the words shaking as they fell from trembling lips. She gave him a wide smile. “That’s because it’s a bit like that, dear.” She picks up a knife and slashes across Derek’s chest. The young man’s eye shot open, shifted into the cold ice blue and his fangs clicked out. The roar was weak and his struggle against the chains was with feeble efforts. Stiles yelled for her to stop. He tried to look away as the flashing of the knife changed into a flashing of blood. She slowed down as Derek’s roars became growls then to groans. Stiles heard his own voice whimper as he saw Derek’s pain fall with helpless tears. Stiles twisted his arm and cried out, “Tsalb!” The pulse that should have come from his hand never did. Instead, he felt pain enter his arm, an electrical static that shook his arms and pulsed pain through his body. Stiles arced his back as he screamed. 

The woman was shaking her head but Stiles could barely stand as the sudden shock made his legs shiver from the effort to remain standing. “That’s not a good thing to do, dear. It won’t help you or your friends.” He looked up as a bead of sweat rolled down his face. She held a giddy smile as she looked to Derek. “Looks like his healing is taking its sweat time. Good. That’s a good sign.” She pulled out a book with yellow binding and she closed her eyes. Part of the pages glowed toward the back. “Do you know why I’m doing this?” Stiles shook his head. He shook it to tell her he didn’t know. That he didn’t want to know. That he didn’t want to be around her. Stiles looked up to her. “I-i-if I join your clave,” He forced his words to be strong. “Would you let my friends go?” Lenelle’s face softened and she walked closer to him. “Dear. You are such a sweetheart to share compassion on these poor creatures and even on the boy, whom I’m afraid, isn’t going to survive much longer.” Stiles watches and waits for the answer. “No. Monsters like these have to be exterminated. I will be their executioner if none will rise for the occasion. An occasion I will gladly serve.” Stiles screamed another blast spell at her and writhed in the aftershock that racked his body. When he opened his eyes again, the darkness was all he could see. The red eyes across the room falling under the shadows. Stiles tried to look to Derek but only heard the heaving breaths. The man was unconscious again. Hoping his friends found them soon, Stiles continued to try to think of ways of escape.


	12. Burning

Allison watched as Scott looked from Deaton to the old mage. “You know each other?” His boss nodded and Mark Clearwater simply glared at the other man. “You could say we have a history. How is your wife?” The old man ignored him and instead said “My clave and I will be the only magic necessary for this mission druid. There is no need for you to be here.” Deaton gave Clearwater a soft smile and Allison felt the sympathy of the dark man. She felt the old man was hiding something. She felt it with the rest of the witches and mages as well, including Xavier and Miranda. Miranda had a look that was on the verge of tears as she stepped back from him and Xavier was a mask of no emotion when he came down the stairs with Lydia. She brushed her hair out of her face as a face crawled from somewhere next to her. “They’re hiding a dark truth. A truth that will cause trouble for the werewolves.” Allison looked around with her blood slowing as fear started to clench in her gut. She looked to her dad but knew he hadn’t heard. He wasn’t reacting. She took the chance to slip outside. As the door shut the voice came out of the darkness.  
“The witches are dangerous, Allison. They draw more danger to you and those around you. You have to stay vigilant around them. They can recognize power and will do anything to gain more.” The voice was harsh and hissing as though it should have been obvious for her. Allison squinted into the darkness and tried to make out any figure that the voice could have belonged to. “How come I can’t see you? How come no one else can hear you?” There was a silence that held in the crisp air. “Because you are the one I’m close to and can reach.” Allison whipped around to find the shadows of lawn chairs climbing the siding of the house. She looked around again the voice seeming to come from nowhere but everywhere at once. “I don’t understand what that means.” The voice came back biting coldly and angrily. “You should. You are smarter than this, Allison. You are better than trusting these witches. I can’t believe you aren’t seeing what’s in front of your eyes.” She glared into the new shadows where the voice seemed the strongest. “Well I don’t see why I should trust you because you won’t trust me to show me who or what you are.” The voice came again softer. “Then I’ll come to you another time. Be careful until then. You get closer to the darkness with each new dawn as the dangers begin to close in.”

A hand clapped down on her shoulder. She whirled instinctively, grabbing the hand and pushing it and the rest of the body up to the house in rough force. Her other hand pulled out one of her knives and she held it to the throat of the person. A soft “Hey,” was pushed out of smashed lips. She recognized the curly hair and pulled away with swift apologies. “I’m so sorry Isaac! I didn’t know it was you and…” She kind of waved a finger around her as though gesturing to the world. “Recent events kind of have me worried. With Stiles, Ethan and Danny… Them getting kidnapped? It just seems like everything is about to go extremely downhill really fast.” He shrugged slightly and sighed.

“It’s cool. I was thinking about getting some air. Too many people in the kitchen and too many voices. Reminds me of home with my dad.” He got this twitch in his neck and she wanted to hug him. Allison pushed the thought out of her head. She’d learned that when Isaac felt too crowded it was best to leave him untouched. She motioned to the house behind him. “Sorry, again. I didn’t know it was you.” He scratched the back of his neck and gave her a little smile. “I shouldn’t have snuck up on you. I told them all inside I thought I heard you talking to someone. That was my excuse to them for coming out here. Though,” He paused as he looked around. “It did sound like you were having a conversation.” She shook her head. “Thinking out loud I guess. I’ve gotten into that bad habit.” He simply nodded. He sat in one of the lawn chairs and stared into the trees behind the house. “What do you think is happening to Stiles?” Allison kept quiet because she didn’t have an answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stiles cried out as another shock racked down his body. Lenelle was back and cutting at the healing scars on Derek’s chest and sides. Derek is growling but without strength. Stiles strained against the chains and screamed Derek’s name. Lenelle’s cackling stopped. “My my… You care for this beast?” She slammed the knife down on the table and Derek lurched up against the chains resting against his neck choking the grunts of pain and his arm twitched. Stiles pulled against the restraints ignoring the pulling and pain he felt in his own shoulders. “You are a sick bitch!” The woman smiled and showed him her grimoire she seemed to have hidden on her person somewhere just for keeps. “See this book? Do you know what it is?” He nodded throat sore from screeching insults and Derek’s name for the past half hour. She’d come down regularly to taunt him and torture Derek. She once stabbed at Ethan who was still barely holding his weight. Danny’s breathing was barely audible now. Stiles lurched out to try and kick the woman one visit. His body was still aching from that experience. 

“Then you should know what the colors mean. Mine’s obviously yellow. That means?” Stiles didn’t answer. His ears were ringing from the sound of his own screams and he knew she’d explain it to him if he didn’t answer. A quick glance at Derek. Stiles figured if he smart off to the woman she’d take it out on Derek. He’d been healing visibly but now the healing was much slower than usual. One of the cuts still hadn’t closed. The blood was pooling under the table and Stiles had to refrain from trying another attack on the woman. “I’m drawing my power from the darkness and I’m powerful with it. You have nothing to do. A newly awakened mage with not structure in magic. No match. No wonder you fiddle around with the monsters in this town. I’ve already learned there are more.” Her smile made his stomach churn. “I’m going to catch them all. Show you that they are the ones to hate. Not me.” She turned away and took to the steps. Stiles yelled after her. He didn’t even know what he said. His frustration and worry for Derek just came out in the yell. Ethan growled and began to yank on his chains again. “Stiles, we need to figure out a way to get out of here.”

“Oh really? I was hoping we could stay and maybe have pillow fights and braid each other’s hair.” He couldn’t see his face but he knew Ethan would have been glaring at him. Stiles tried thinking of a spell that he could make up and a phrase to try to put magic to. “Ynnad laeh.” The static went through him again and left him breathless. After he caught a little breath, Stiles began watching Danny. “Ethan… I don’t know if I’m trembling too much but I can’t tell if Danny’s even breathing.” Ethan’s struggling quieted and then started back up with roars and screams. Stiles realized that Ethan had listened to Danny’s heartbeat. No. No no no. No. “Danny! No!” Stiles shook his head in disbelief and closed his eyes. He could hear the ragged breathing of Derek between Ethan’s gasping between screaming Danny’s name. Stiles could actually feel the energy around him. He opened his eyes and knew he’d use all of the strength in him. 

“For Danny. For Derek. For my friends and for my loved ones. My passion gives me strength, and the darkness is my power.” He felt his mind focusing as he repeated the same phrases and pictured the faces of those he loved. Stiles straightened out his body and felt the rush of energy surge, free and wild pulsing up his arms to his palm and fingertips. The static of the chains began to shudder into his wrists. “Kaerb sniahc!” He saw in his mind’s eye his hands falling away from the wall, imagined the thud of Ethan falling to the floor. The sickening clang and splash of the chains flowing off Derek’s body and into the blood on the floor below the table. A twitch in his mind and he felt suddenly weak. He fell away from the wall and hit the floor. He rolled slightly as he heard Ethan gasping for air. The movement of the young wolf heading over to Danny. He heard a sniffle then a squelching sound. Danny was suddenly awake and screaming. Ethan pulled away muttering. “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. Danny, please…” Danny was silent again. Stiles looked over and saw Derek’s own face. He would have looked peaceful if his face wasn’t covered in sweat and blood. Stiles groaned as the lasting pain of the cuffs tingled into his sore wrists. Darkness began to cloud his vision from the pain. “No no… Not yet…” There was a roar and he heard voices yelling. 

He fought to stay awake longer but witnessed Ethan being thrown across the room. The figures appearing down the stairs. Lenelle stood over Stiles. Her cruel smile was gone with a look of disgust. “I’d never think a mage could save killers like these but you’ve ruined that haven’t you.” She held a hand over him and let out a string of words. Stiles cried out as the same static pain that had come from the cuffs and chains erupted over every part of his body. He twitched and writhed on the floor. Trying to roll from the pain, Stiles ended up closer to the table by Derek. Darkness clouding his vision, Stiles looked first at Ethan who was being tortured by a group of mages, then to Derek who was still unconscious and bleeding. He let go of his hold and let the blackness overtake him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lydia gasped and gripped at the counter. Aiden put a hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?” She shook her head and said, “I don’t know… Stiles is worse. Danny…” Aiden leaned in closer and Lydia shut her eyes tight. The feeling she had in her stomach was beginning to spread. The feeling was something familiar. She’d been experiencing it for a while now and she was beginning to hate feeling like she did. She turned around. The clave was finally trying to find spells that would best suit the situation of finding the boys. Deaton was cast as unhelpful after Scott explained everything to him. He had simply said, “My magic needs time to be prepared. The clave can find Stiles faster than I could ever. They have spells right for finding them and will be able to perform them easier.” Scott had said thanks but Lydia felt like he should have just told his boss to leave instead of wasting time being unhelpful.

The grandmage had chosen to use a picture Stiles had of him and his father when he was younger. Lydia felt like it was perfect. It showed how he could care about a person. The rest of the house was empty with those kinds of photos. She assumed it was the only one because it was probably taken before his mother died. The man took the photo out of the frame and continued muttering. She was ready to go. Her hand twitching and making the keys to her car jingle slightly. She looked out the window again. The fear in her stomach clawing out through her muscles and she just wanted to yell for the old man to hurry up. When the picture began to burn she almost screamed. “What are you doing?!” She snapped no longer daring to show the man any respect. Miranda stepped in her way. “The smoke will stay with him and lead us to Stiles.” Lydian pointed to the picture. “But that was important!” Miranda just nodded. Lydia was pulled away by Aiden and she looked to Scott who fumed, his red alpha eyes still glowing. He glared at her but she knew he was just as upset over the situation.

They all watched as the photo burn and the smoke rose up. The smoke drifted slightly and floated to the window. Clearwater raised his eyes. “That is the way we need to go now.” He took hold of one of the clave members and had them escort him to one of the cars in the drive. Lydia climbed into the front seat of her car and realized that Scott had chosen to ride with her and Aiden. She was about to say that Aiden sat in the front but when she looked in the rearview mirror she saw that Aiden was just as messed up as Scott. She backed out of the drive, not really watching and nearly hit a morning jogger. “Can’t you see us all leaving?!” Lydia yelled out her window. The guy held up a middle finger and Aiden was at the window roaring. The man jumped and fell to the ground. Lydia hit the gas and they took off. Scott watched the car in front of them slow and turn. Lydia was tapping her steering wheel, she kept looking at the clock on her radio. Suddenly they came to a stop and the car in front sat as the car sat at a red light. Lydia was about to scream when she felt it. She hit her signal and as the first car went through the changing lights, she turned. Scott looked to her with a snarl. Aiden in the back growling a warning didn’t bother him. Lydia simply stared out the window. 

Her phone vibrated but she didn’t answer. Her mind was screaming for her to follow this road. Follow it fast is what it truly screamed. She pushed the petal further to the floor and exceeded the speed limit by ten. Scott answered his phone but she barely heard the words. “I don’t know. She won’t answer me…. No like she can’t hear me… I know. Just follow.” A tear fell down Lydia’s cheek and then she was sobbing. Aiden’s hand rolled over her shoulder and she shook her head. Scott looked to her in horror. Her lips trembled and her hands tightened on the steering wheel. They were like that for a while as they crossed the town and got to an abandoned warehouse. Scott briefly mentioned a rave but she got out of the car without shutting it off. A man came out of the warehouse and walked up to the growing cars. Allison and the rest of the clave had pulled up behind her. Allison came up and began talking to Lydia but she was crying and sobbing. Lydia calmed suddenly and Allison’s face struck up in horror. Lydia took a breath and wailed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of character shifts but I wanted more of the story told. Hope you enjoyed! Looking forward to your responses!


	13. No Reason to Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!!! Some Sterek action. I hope you guys like it!

His eyes opened, eyes blurred and fuzzy. It was the shriek that had woken him. He gave out a shuddered breath from the cold and winced at the pain. His whole body was sore. He hissed as another wave of agony made his muscles constrict, twitching in pain. His head fell to the side, eyes blurred at the shapes and figures moving in and out of his sites. He heard screaming and roars. He winced as something flew over him. As he tried to move his arm he felt it amongst a pool of blood. A groan escaped chapped lips and he bit back the urge to whimper. He would not show the weakness he felt. A crash sounded, making him flinch; more pain sending spasms through his body. He could finally make the shapes out as people. One of the twins was carrying a body up a staircase. Two pairs of red eyes came down the same stairs. They were yelling. One pair, Scott, went to an elderly woman. She was yelling and energy was flying out of her outstretched hands. Snakes appeared out of thin air and Scott’s arms broke and then healed. Aiden was coming toward him. 

“Stiles! Stiles!” He started to bend down but stopped. “Oh my god… Derek?!” Derek blinked and tried to speak but only took a painful gasp of air before wheezing as another wave seized his body. A flurry of questions muddled his already addled mind. Where was Stiles? Why were they here? What was happening? Another shape rose from beside him with a struggle, clutching the edge of the table he was laying on. His face was bruised and his hair looked slick. The voice cut over the yells and roars as the slight, warm fingers wrapped around his arm. They trembled as they tightened over his skin. Stiles was yelling and pointing to Scott.

Aiden left and went roaring at the woman. Derek saw her lips moving, watched as light gathered in her palms before exploding outward. He had closed his eyes but heard the roars. He knew whatever she had just done, she hurt Scott and Aiden. A high pitched scream made Stiles flinch and lean over Derek. The smell of fear, sweat, pain, and blood exuded from Stiles. His blood. The predator flared in defense until it smelled the natural musk of the boy. A biting smell of gasoline, the smell of salty and slightly burned popcorn, even the smell from his Jeep’s leather seats. Derek could smell how much the boy worried about everything. The animal in Derek’s mind calmed. He heard the voice as it said “Don’t look Derek. Don’t look! You’ll be safe. I’ll keep you safe.” Derek’s eyes flicked weakly around Stiles and he saw the flames before they turned black sending his vision to darkness again. The world fell silent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Derek felt the tingle on his arms as he began to wake up. He opened his eyes to a white ceiling. He sniffed the air. He could smelled Stiles but he also smelled blood. His blood. He turned his head, realizing he was no longer cold but actually covered by a light blanket. The pillow under his head was soft. It smelled a lot like Stiles. He looked around the room and confirmed he was in Stile’s bedroom. The boy was sitting next to him, slumped over the edge of the bed and asleep in his computer chair. Derek listened to his light mutterings and watched as his finger ghosted his movements in his dream. Derek simply watched, confused as to what had happened. He growled. Stiles suddenly froze. Derek smirked at having scared the young man but then the mutterings came back with more urgency. Derek growled again, “Stiles.” Stiles jumped up yelling, “No!” Derek pushed back into the pillow behind his head.

Stiles’ hair was sticking up on one side and Derek had to admit he wanted to laugh. Instead he glared. A blush creeped up Stiles’ cheeks and Derek rolled his eyes. “What am I doing here?” Stiles shrugged. “We couldn’t take you to the hospital. Scott’s dad is still here for some stupid reason. Lydia’s parents would never take you and you hate the Argents so they were off the list…” Stiles began to grumble about how he was stuck with having to take care of Derek. Derek started to sit up but Stiles pushed him back down. “Oh no. Vet’s orders. You get rest and food in bed. You can’t get up until you are fully healed.” Derek growled but didn’t push back up. He had felt his stomach tighten and the searing pain shooting out of it. A quick look down showed him he wasn’t healing as fast as he should have been. He blamed it on the torture. Stiles stood up and walked out of the room. Derek could hear his feet thumping down the stairs. A groan passed his teeth as he relinquished into the pain. He knew Stiles wouldn’t hear him. No need for the kid to have more ammo to give him better snarky comments.

When he heard the first step creak, Derek tightened his features into a glare. As Stiles rounded the corner with a few plates of food balanced in his hands, Derek felt his face slip in shock but he pushed it back into the fearsome look. Stiles gave him a glare of his own. “I tried really hard not to trip on anything okay. Stop giving me that look or no food for you.” Before Derek could respond he heard his stomach growl. His face heated up and he looked away from the look of pleasure on Stiles’ face. He heard the clink of metal on the plate and refused to open his mouth as Stiles tried to feed him. Stiles huffed and put the fork back on the plate. “Look. I don’t like this anymore than you do.” A skip in his heartbeat made sure Derek knew it was a lie. “But I have to take care of you because Deaton wants to talk to you about what happened. If you eat maybe you’ll heal faster then you can get the heck out of my room and I can have my bed back.” Stiles’ heart was racing. Derek looked over to try and figure out why he was so nervous. Stiles didn’t meet his gaze, only picked the fork back up with a piece of bacon on it. Derek slowly opened his mouth and he heard the heartbeat leap up again.

“Are you okay?” Despite the sudden red flare of his face, Stiles looked gruesome with purple and greenish lumps around his cheeks and under one of his eyes. The bags under his eyes showed Derek the boy hadn’t been sleeping. Stiles nodded but kept quiet. Derek noticed that quickly but didn’t push. If Stiles didn’t want to talk then that was fine. They sat there in silence and Derek could practically see Stiles growing more uncomfortable under the quiet atmosphere. A roll of his eyes and he said “Thanks.” The blush on Stiles’ face grew brighter. He simply nodded which struck Derek as odd. He would have thought the kid would have sarcastically said you’re welcome but nothing? Derek chewed as he was fed some French toast. “What happened?” Stiles shrugged. “When?” Derek gave him a glare.

“Oh you mean when we were rescued? Nothing much. Scott and Aiden fought a witch who was torturing you, Ethan, and me. She was letting Danny die and then she was cutting you up like she was in biology. Me and Ethan got free and he went to save Danny while I tried to get you to not, you know, die. I slipped and fell…” He swallowed and the flush in his face went to a greenish color. Derek had to bite back a threat about Stiles’ throwing up on him. “I woke up to her beating me senseless and then I heard a scream and that’s when Ethan got Danny upstairs. Scott and Aiden went after the witch and then she caught the whole place on fire. Isaac and the twins carried you while Scott helped me out. You’ve been sleeping for a few days and Deaton was pretty sure they had starved you.” Derek nodded. He hadn’t known she was a witch. But after a few days of torture, starvation, and dehydration, Derek was weak enough to examine. She poked and prodded him with knives and watched as he healed. A growl escaped his throat at the memories. “I think I was drugged too.” His voice slightly muffled before he could swallow the piece of bacon. Stiles shook his head. “I’m not really surprised. You didn’t seem to be the type to be compliant with getting carved like a pumpkin.” Another glare and Derek bit the fork hard. He chewed fuming at the situation. 

Stiles stood up and pulled back the blanket that covered him. Derek sighed at the site. His torso was still ripped from the large cuts. A trickle of blood had started to crawl down his chest toward his belly button. Stiles walked into the bathroom and pulled out a washcloth. Derek heard him wet it and was embarrassed as he came back with it still dripping. A drop landed on his arm and he twitched at it being hot. Stiles gently brushed it against his skin and cleaned the trail of blood. The blush was back in Stiles’ face and Derek pushed inconceivable thoughts out of his head. “I could have done that.” Derek ignored the pain as he reached up and grabbed Stiles’ hand. Stiles shot him a glare. “I did this with my mom. Except she was just sweat and it was on her forehead.” Derek saw the brown eyes cloud with memories. Derek ignored it and pulled the cloth from the shaking fingers. Stiles walked away with a glare. He took the plates away and headed downstairs. Derek suddenly blushed and glared at the doorway. Stiles walked in and threw his hands into the air in exasperation. “What? What’s that look for? Did I show you too much compassion? Was I too nice?” Derek took in a deep breath before saying, “Who’s clothes am I wearing?” Stiles’ mouth was open from being mid-rant but the color first drained from his face and then grew red again. He looked down and his hand slid into his pockets. Derek felt his glare deepen and his eyebrows rise higher.

“Those uh… Those are mine.” Stiles didn’t look up. Derek growled his response. “Why?” Stiles chewed on his lips. “My shirt wouldn’t fit and uh… neither did… Well you can keep the basketball shorts.” Derek breathed through his nose fuming. He stared at the ceiling, angry at being treated like a child. Angry that Stiles was the one taking care of him. Angry that the boy saw more of him than Derek ever wanted. Stiles stood on his toes and said, “Looks like you’re starting to heal faster.” Derek simply growled as a warm pain spread across his chest. Stiles sat back down in the computer chair. The look he was giving Derek made him want to punch the kid. “Stop.” Stiles looked at him in confusion. “What?” Derek gave another growl and glare. “Stop making that face. It’s annoying.” Stiles glared at him and looked out the window, leaning back into the chair. “Where’s Cora?” Stiles didn’t answer at first, simply shook his head. “She was with you. I don’t know.” Derek rolled his eyes. “Yeah. She and I were both captured last week. Where is she?” Stiles looked back at him. “She was in the warehouse?”

Derek felt his body beginning to tremble. “Are you telling me you didn’t get her out?” Stiles shook his head. “Scott said he and the others looked through the place. She would’ve been found.” “Stiles! It burned down! You left her in that burning-” Derek’s voice began to crack and he felt his teeth shift and his eyes glow. Stiles stood up and thrust out a hand as if to stop him. “Derek, no!” Derek growled and tried to sit up. Stiles pushed him back down and Derek pushed him, claws catching the boy’s side. Stiles yelped as he was flung into the wall. Derek stopped to look at him. Stiles clutched at his side. “Derek! We looked in there. She wasn’t there! She and Peter weren’t in the warehouse.” Derek took a few breaths, grunting as he felt the pain in his midsection. He looked down and saw the blood beginning to drip out of one the cuts that was still closing. He wiped at it viciously with the cloth. Stiles remained sitting by the wall, chest heaving at hiding his fear and hurt. Derek sat down on the bed and he looked around to the window. He made the decision that in a few moments he would leave through it. 

“Why’d you guys leave?” Derek looked back to Stiles and rolled his eyes at the glare. Derek stood up, still groaning from pain and he walked to the desk. He picked up the first aid kit and brought it over to the bed. He looked to Stiles without speaking. “What?” The boy’s voice trembled. Derek motioned for the bed and Stiles’ glare deepened. “So you can claw me again?” Derek rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry. Get up here so I can get it patched up.” Stiles stood and sat on the bed. He avoided some blood spots from Derek. Derek pulled the shirt up and he heard the hitch in the boy’s heartbeat again. Derek made him hold the shirt and he wiped at the light scratches with alcohol. His eyes watered at the smell and he bit back a laugh as Stiles grunted at the burning. “Baby.” Derek cleaned the scratches and ignored the pain gathering around his mid-drift. “Shut up and tell me why.” Derek shrugged. “There’s nothing for us here.”

Stiles made a sound of protest. “What about the pack?” Derek laughed. “What pack? Scott and I were never a pack. Cora was my pack and so was Peter. Isaac went to Scott and the twins are Alphas. There wasn’t a pack Stiles.” Stiles shook his head. “What about the rest of us?” Derek scoffed. “Who? Lydia? She didn’t like me because I’m Peter’s nephew. Allison and her father are hunters, Stiles. We couldn’t ever get along.” He rolled his eyes. “You really thought we’d become close after everything? Kate set my family on fire. Gerard tried to repeatedly kill us. Hales and Argents don’t friend each other. Sorry. This isn’t Facebook.” Stiles sat there a while. “Then where’d you guys go?” Derek heard the heartbeat. Knew Stiles was upset. Derek ignored it. “Why do you want to know?” Stiles grew quiet. Derek looked up at him and he finished putting some band-aides on the scratches. When Stiles still didn’t answer, Derek looked up at the boy’s face. “Why do you want to know, Stiles?”

Another shrug and Derek rolled his eyes. “Oh so now you don’t want to talk? Tell me.” He pulled Stiles face to look at him in the eyes. They glistened wetly. “Why do you want to know?” Stiles shrugged again and opened his mouth. “I just want to know why.” Derek stood up and paced the room in frustration. “I told you. There’s nothing here for us. No reason for us to stay. Our house is gone, we only have each other and even then Peter wasn’t with us. What else were we supposed to do? Stay?” Stiles nodded. Derek raised an eyebrow. “Why would we stay, Stiles? Why would we want to stay? There isn’t a pack. Scott may say you are part of his pack but you’re not. A pack is made of werewolves. Not of annoying humans and hunters that try to kill the rest of the pack on their off days.” He watched as Stiles’ face fell with each sentence, each word hardening his eyes. “What is there for us?” Stiles looked away. “You could’ve joined Scott’s pack. We could all be together. Safe.” Derek shook his head. “You don’t get it. Scott and I don’t get along. There’s no way we could be in a pack together.”

“Then why didn’t you stay for Peter?” Derek laughed darkly at that one. “The man killed my sister. Neither Cora nor I wanted to bring him with us. So he didn’t come. We were fine before we got attacked. We were going to join a different pack. One Cora had stayed with when she didn’t know I was still alive.” Derek watched as Stiles struggled with that idea, his heart racing even faster now. Derek took a few menacing steps to Stiles. “None of those are the reasons you want to hear. Why do you-” He couldn’t speak anymore as Stiles leapt off the bed and took his face into both hand and kissed him. Derek stiffened. He didn’t push Stiles away, didn’t kiss him back. Stiles pulled Derek closer to him, his fingers digging into Derek’s scruff and clawing into the back of his neck. The beast in Derek growled hungrily and Derek parted his lips. Stiles pushed deeper into Derek. Derek lifted an arm to the boy’s waist. The other roamed up to his shoulder and Derek finally pushed Stiles away. “Stiles. Stop.” Tears were falling from Stiles’ cheeks. “Why did you leave me?” Derek backed away. “There wasn’t a reason.” Stiles laughed even as he choked on it.

“Of course not. Why would there be? I’m a mess. I don’t know what’s going half the time. I’m just an annoying human who gets into trouble.” Derek didn’t say anything. “Doesn’t help that I’ve dreamed about you since you left. You’re always there. Chained against a wall. Dying. Like everyone else had died. I can’t save you. I can only reach out and hope to save you.” Stiles sat back down on the bed. He licked his lips and Derek felt the cool touch of those lips finally give to the warmth of his. He took another step away from Stiles. “But I should have known. Reaching out to you only gives you something to push away. You don’t know how confused I am.” Derek opened his mouth. “No, Derek. You don’t get to talk. I do. I get to tell you how I’m now living my life, scared that one night I could lose my dad to anything I didn’t know even existed. That I could lose him to some natural cause like a freaking heart attack. That I could lose him because… Because of someone I might fall in love with. That I could lose my friends. They accept Danny but me? What about me? Could I be a different person to them?

“I’m losing myself, Derek. It feels like I’m spinning out of control and can’t right the world. I feel like I can’t be me. I’ve lost me. There is nothing left Derek. Nothing at all. Leave. It’s what you wanted. Just leave. You don’t need healing or anything from me so you might as well just leave.” Derek ran a hand over his chest. He clenched his fist by his side before going to the window. Stiles coughed and began yanking the covers off the bed. Derek looked back and watched the look on his face when he saw blood on the mattress. Stiles glared at Derek with red eyes that puffed from his sudden break down. He coughed and wiped at his eyes. Derek dropped down from the roof, he could still hear Stiles as he answer his phone. “Hey. Yeah. Gone. I’m fine. How’s uh… How’s Danny? I’ll be there soon. Let me get a shower. I’m fine. Lydia. Don’t.” Derek winced as Stiles’ voice tightened again and he made his way into the woods ignoring the sharp stabs at his feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this part close to tears! I honestly didn't want to right it this way but I felt like they'd have a struggle rather than just jumping into something. Comments and Critiques are always accepted! Thanks to those who have commented, given kudos, and bookmarked this! You have no idea how much it means to me! Thank you so much!


	14. Another Day at the Hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken so long! I've developed an inner ear infection and every time I began to type, the screen and room would just roll. Hope you enjoy it, I kind of rushed to get it up for you all.

Stiles quickly washed his face and brushed his teeth. He knew Derek wasn’t interested. There wasn’t a chance that it could have occurred. He thought about how he had just kissed him. The warm touch of his surprisingly soft and wet lips, bordered with burning stubble. He brought his finger to trace his lips. Stiles knew he hadn’t imagined that Derek had indeed kissed him back. There was a moment where Derek had pulled him closer. Stiles threw out hand and slapped the tiled walls. No. He thought angrily, his mouth foaming from toothpaste. Derek pushed him away. Stiles spat into the sink and wiped his lips, wishing he could forget the burning of the other man’s facial hair. He winced as his phone vibrated again. It was a number he didn’t know. He ignored it. He rushed out of his bedroom and jumped into his shoes that lay by the door. The Jeep rumbled as he turned it on, the last song it played suddenly blasting out of his speakers. After he jumped he turned down the song then thought better of it. He turned it up and started it over. He began to sing slightly to the tune. 

“Voices won’t go away, they stay for days and days. They say some awful things, ways to make you fade away.” He bobbed his head with the music, feelings and thoughts about Derek and his bedroom flushing out to the sound of the music. He turned out of the cul de sac and was now on his way to the hospital. Fingers drumming on the steering wheel, lips moving to the music, Stiles drove a little higher than the speed limit. He glanced behind him as some flashing lights caught his attention. He looked down and realized he’d underestimated his speeding. Only by ten miles. He grumbled and turned the volume down on his stereo before the cop behind him blew past him. Stiles felt his mouth drop at his luck. Then he thought about what his luck was really like. He gunned the gas and took off after the cop. He tried to follow by staying in the same speed limit but the guy was going at least twenty over. Stiles kept to a ten just to be safe. It didn’t look like his dad’s cruiser but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have switched at the station. The cruiser went over the hill and when Stiles reached the same point, he’d realized he’d somehow lost the cruiser. Stiles grumbled and continued to drive to the hospital.

Upon arrival, he noticed several police cruisers, including the one he’d been chasing, lined up in front of the entrance of the hospital. Stiles threw the Jeep into park and jumped out. He ran inside to find Lydia talking to his dad and another guy. He ignored the cute face and ran up to Lydia. “What happened?” Lydia’s face was pale and she shrugged. “Danny just vanished.” Stiles looked at her astonished. “What? When?” The sheriff pushed Stiles out of the way. “We have this under control. Go over to the others. We’ve already talked to them.” Stiles saw his friends and nodded to his father, ignoring the looks from the younger guy. Stiles went over to them and made sure to stay close to Scott. “What happened?” Scott shook his head. “We were all talking about what had happened, hoping he’d come out okay. We heard a scream and when we checked him, he was gone.” Stiles gaped at him. “Wait. He was gone? He screamed and just… Gone?” Allison leaned over and nodded. “They’re searching the cameras but they can’t seem to find him. Ethan and Aiden went out to try and find him.” Stiles gave her a look of incredulity. “How? Sniffing the ground?” She shrugged but looked to Scott.

“It’s something. Ethan isn’t going to stop though. Which is why I sent Aiden with him. They’ll search tonight then me and Isaac will search tomorrow.” Stiles shivered as though he was experiencing all of this before. “Why do you smell like Derek?” Stiles rolled his eyes and his frown grew into a scowl. His heartbeat still jumped at the thoughts of what had happened, what he had hoped would happen, what didn’t. “I was helping him heal. I’d smell like him, right?” It wasn’t a defense but he had nothing to defend himself. That’s what he hoped it sounded like. Scott shrugged. “It wasn’t this strong as yesterday. It smells like you guys touched.” Stiles scoffed and laughed. “Yeah because we’re close enough to start getting touchy-feely.” The words were laced with sarcasm and bitterness. His stomach churned and made him feel sick as he thought of how he had just jumped at Derek like he did. No wonder the guy ran out of the window so fast. Isaac gave him a look this time. “Sounds like he’s feeling better.” Stiles only grunted in response. Lydia nodded to his father and pointed to Stiles. He wished he could have werewolf hearing, or even be able to read lips. He saw the young deputy look at him again with a look of bemusement. Stiles gave him a light smile and wave but did it more out of respect than out of friendliness.

Lydia took shaky steps toward them. She sat in a chair and Stiles put a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?” She nodded slightly before responding. “He was more Jackson’s friend than mine.” She didn’t bother looking around for Aiden. Stiles figured she didn’t care. “But you know, we were still close. He’d defend me sometimes when Jackson lost his temper. I kind of kept away this year because of everything going on. He has no clue what’s going on. And now he’s been bitten by Ethan…” Stiles felt his mouth drop and he clapped his hands and pointed to Lydia then to Scott and then raced out of the hospital. “I’ll be back!” He ran to his car to find the deputy placing a ticket on his windshield. “Hey!” Stiles came running over and pulled out the ticket. “What is this for?” The deputy seemed flushed, brushing his sandy hair up from his forehead. “Sheriff said to put it on the Jeep. I was doing what I was told.” Stiles looked at the slip and opened it up. It read, ‘Be home late. No party because I didn’t get pizza.’ Stiles scoffed and reached over taking the pen out of the deputy’s pocket. The man’s flush deepened. Stiles wrote back to his father and gave it back to the deputy. “Tell him he’d better not eat out. I mean what I wrote.” The deputy kind of stood there holding the note, face clearly showing he wasn’t comfortable with having to tell the sheriff what to do because of a kid. 

“I’m Stiles. The sheriff’s kid.” Stiles figured the guy had been wondering why the sheriff and this random kid seemed to be casual with each other. The guy sighed. “Oh okay. That explains a lot. I’m Deputy O’Shae. Ryley O’Shae. I’m the new… Uh… Deputy.” Stiles had to pull back the laugh at the guy’s blush. Why was he acting so flustered. Stiles extended his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’ll be bringing the old man dinner later, something healthy so don’t let him eat out okay?” The deputy nodded but held onto his hand a little longer. “I played you.” Stiles kept the smile on his face but he was a little scared at what that statement. Was the deputy another mage? A werewolf? “Excuse me?” The guy blushed a deeper red and stuttered a little. “I-I played you last year. In la-lacrosse? I graduated last year and started the academy over the summer. We played against each other the last game of the season when that Jackson kid got hurt.” Stiles nodded and tried to remember but the feeling of brief safety was the only thing he wanted to focus on. “Oh okay. Maybe I’ll come to the station and we can reminisce.” That earned a smile from the deputy and a swift nod. “I’ll catch you later then.” Stiles said pulling his hand back and watched as Ryley stumbled backward and got into the cruiser, driving a little too fast for the hospital parking lot. Stiles shook his head before jumping into his Jeep and pulling out his grimoire. After the attack he lugged the thick thing around with him. He rushed through the automatic doors and rounded the corner, almost knocking Scott and his mom to the floor. 

“Stiles! Geez, why are you running? You know there are people here to do their jobs.” Stiles just nodded and said a quick apology knowing she wouldn't appreciate his sarcasm and turned to Scott. “Where is everyone else?” Scott shrugged, his eyes drooping into massive bags under his eyes. “Buddy, you okay? You look like you need to sleep.” Scott nodded. “I’ve been up trying to find that witch…” Melissa McCall touched his shoulder. “I’ve got to get back to work. You should go home and sleep.” She gave Stiles a look and he waved. “Still avoiding your dad?” Scott nodded and Stiles shook his head. “You remember when we weren’t running around and trying to figure out who wasn’t trying to kill someone we know?” Scott laughed and pulled at the grimoire. Stiles didn’t let go. “Let’s get everyone together. We have some stuff to talk about.” He dragged Scott by the wrist around to the cafeteria. Stiles didn’t let it out often, but he really hated the hospital. Not looking at the doors of the rooms, he took them to the cafeteria. He found Lydia and Allison getting coffee. Isaac sat alone at a table fidgeting with a salt canister on the table. Stiles slid into the seat across from him and started to bounce his legs in anticipation. “Stop it Stiles.” Stiles looked over and Isaac wasn’t bothering looking at him. “The bouncing. Stop. You’re shaking the whole table.” Stiles rolled his eyes and pulled out the grimoire. The salt shaker rolled across the table as Isaac let it fall.

Lydia sat down beside Stiles although she didn’t look at the book. She was more concerned with the coffee in her hand. “What’s this doing here?” Stiles tapped the book. “I think I might have something. What if Danny is a banshee?” No one said anything to that. Lydia stirred her coffee with the pretentious look she got when she was thinking of something sarcastic to say. “Look at what’s happened.” Stiles jumped before anyone could make fun of his idea. “Danny was bitten and hasn’t been healing. The bite would heal him or kill him but it wasn’t affecting him for either of those ways. Now he’s gone after looking like he might pull through?” Allison’s posture went rigid. “Just like Lydia.” Lydia stopped stirring her coffee and scoffed. “Come on guys. You don’t think that me and Danny are the exact same? We were bitten by different Alphas.” Scott leaned in closer. “That doesn’t mean anything. Any bite from any Alpha can either heal you then make you transform or kill you. You weren’t killed and you’re not a werewolf.” She rolled her eyes. “And that makes me a banshee?” Stiles shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe you were a banshee before and the bite just… I don’t know maybe it just woke the banshee part of you up.” Lydia took a few gulps of the coffee, made a face and slid it to Isaac. He smirked at her and continued to push the coffee to end of the table. Lydia ignored him and Stiles. Stiles turned to Scott who shook his head. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say Stiles.”

“I’m saying, what if Danny reacts like Lydia had when Peter-” She stiffened but only he seemed to notice. “Bit her. What if he’s gone then just turns up?” He still remembered when Lydia had. He had actually fallen while his dad covered her up with a jacket. Lydia must have realized what he was thinking about and smacked him. “How was Derek when he woke up?” The look he gave her made her flinch like he struck her. He shifted his glared at the grimoire. “Just that there still wasn’t a reason to stay. So I guess he’s just going to go now.” Isaac snorted. “Then why’s he walking over here?” Stiles tried not to jump in his seat. Tried not to feel the fear and excitement in his throat and stomach. He tried not to feel like he needed to look at Derek, to gauge his reaction at him being there. He tried. Turning back in his seat, he fed his grimoire a glare before sliding it toward Lydia, who took it and hid it in her purse. She shared a look with him, showing she was sure how he was feeling. Stiles was also sure he’d have to text her or call her to explain what had happened. He pulled out his phone and realized he had a message from his father so he decided to try and ignore Derek by reading it. It read, Dont forget the curly fries. He had to be thankful for his father. After telling him that everything was under control and a promise that he wouldn’t be hounded about eating healthy the next day, Stiles was able to get his father to calm down and settle for some bull about Stiles and Scott rough housing; though that had started a new lecture on wrestling with werewolves who could clearly beat a normal human in seconds. He quickly began texting but heard a growl from behind him. He turned his head over his shoulder and saw Derek glaring at him. Stiles glared back. “What?”

“I was wondering if we could talk for a sec. Privately.” For a second, Stiles’ hopes went up. Maybe Derek was interested then. Maybe everything would be okay. But the longer he looked into those brooding eyes, framed by those irritated eyebrows, the whole Derek Hale glare, those hopes were replaced with the mental replay of what happened a few hours earlier. “No. I’m fine. Pretty sure we don’t have any words left to be spoken. You want to talk to Allison? She might talk to you before me.” Allison’s jaw dropped in shock at his words but then solidified into a glare directed at Derek. “Nope. I’m fine.” Lydia gave a little hum, and smiled at Derek. “Guess it’s just you and the flea boys. We’ll be fine here. Bye.” Derek growled again. This times, Stiles continued texting his dad. He sent the message before realizing Lydia and Allison were both staring at him. He gulped suddenly wishing he had taken his chances with Derek. Allison opened her mouth but Lydia jumped in. “What was that? He was acting like a total stalker and he was more mad at not having a chance to talk to you than having to talk to you.” Stiles shrugged and tried to avoid her gorgeous eyes. He looked to Allison but that was a mistake. “Stiles, what’s going on? You’ve been acting really weird lately. And not because of the stuff that’s been going on.” He gave another shrug.

“Maybe I’m worried about Danny and talking to him won’t make me feel better. Everything is just doom and gloom with that sourwolf.” Lydia rolled her eyes but Allison seemed to take it as a reasonable excuse. “Seriously, Stiles. You have bugged me to talk to you since the third grade and now you want to shut up?” Stiles looked over to her. He knew his mouth was gaping. He was barely able to say to her, “You’ve known I’ve wanted to talk to you since third grade?” Lydia rolled her eyes. “You told Scott every chance you got, he told Allison, who told me. Not much of a secret either. Unlike others.” The last part was barely over a whisper but Stiles heard and glanced at Allison who was looking over to the doors after the wolves. He gave a look to Lydia who was now typing on her phone. “Aiden still hasn’t found Danny. Ethan’s tearing up anything that gets in his way.” Stiles straightened up and looked to her. “That means trees and flowers right?” She looked at him with a grim expression. “Aiden said he’d go back to take pictures if I ever threaten him again. Too bad for him I can lie and tell him I like biology.” She ignored the looks of Allison and Stiles. Allison began to explain how it was obvious that Lydia hated to get dirty while Stiles stood up.

He turned just as the guys walked through the door. From Scott and Isaac’s faces, he knew that they didn’t tell Derek about him being a mage. He held his hand out to Lydia and took back the grimoire. Derek’s face was a look of frustration and annoyance but Stiles didn’t care. He started past the leather clad man before being grabbed around his upper arm. Derek’s breath came out briefly into his ear. “Stiles. We need to talk. About earlier and a lot of other things.” Stiles held back the shudder that came from Derek’s warm breath rolling over his neck. Stiles tried to yank his arm away but only managed to get Derek’s fingers to tighten over his arm. He knew there’d be bruises if he made the werewolf any angrier. “I mean it Stiles. We need to talk.” Stiles figured out there was a line somewhere and he decided to cross it. “Or else what? You’ll rip out my throat with your teeth? Do me the favor.” Derek recoiled and Stiles quickly walked back to his Jeep. Starting the car, he put it in reverse and pushed the gas a little harder than necessary. He groaned as he went onto the curb and ignored Derek’s form coming out of the hospital. Ignored how the leather clung onto his shoulders. Ignored how seeing him running for him filled him with false happiness. Ignored the pain at having tried to trust into someone he thought wouldn’t have put down what he was feeling. He ignored the feeling to cry as he went to his house to fix his dad and the deputy some dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why I chose Another Way Out by Hollywood Undead for Stiles to sing but it's helped me out in the past while I was upset so I used it. Again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the whole piece! Comments and critiques always welcomed!


	15. A Loss and Understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Hope you all enjoy.

Allison looked around as Stiles and Derek left. She was sure she heard something that sounded different against the quiet sounds of cafeteria. Standing and giving Lydia some space as she glared at Scott for letting Stiles go without trying to go after him, Allison walked back over to the vending machine and she heard the strange sounds again. Looking around all she found were strangers and shadows. “No mommy dearest to stop me from talking now.” Allison looked behind her. No one stood there. She looked around again, this time, her hand going to the knife tucked into her sleeve. “That won’t help you. There isn’t a way for you to defend yourself from me now. Who’s psychic now bitch?” The voice crawled over her skin and she had to hide a shudder.

“Erica?” She turned and jumped as she saw her own reflection in the vending machine’s window. She pulled her hand away from her mouth. Allison took in a few deep breaths and tried to clear her emotions and slow her heartbeat. She looked to Scott and Isaac, both of whom were talking to Lydia. When she turned back around she found Erica standing in front of her. She covered her mouth to muffle the scream that raked her throat but stopped at her teeth. “Oh my god… How? What?” Erica shrugged but gave her a glare. “Don’t worry. I’m totally dead. I was just trying to tell you to watch out.” Allison cocked her head in confusion. “Why would you be warning me?” Erica shrugged and kicked at the ground. No sound came from it and Allison reached forward before Erica stepped back, her eyes glowing slightly yellow. “Don’t worry. I’m dead. No chance in me hurting you right now. I am warning you because the darkness around you is like a roaming portal from this side. And I think I could use your help.” Allison shook her head, her fingers pressing up against her forehead. “What do you mean? I could help you? With what?” Erica rolled her eyes.

“Reconnect with Boyd? Maybe? He’s on our side but I can’t find him. Maybe you could check and see if he’s still clinging to Derek?” Allison just looked at her. “How am I supposed to do that? I don’t even know what I’m doing to be able to talk to you.” Erica looked around her and vanished in a smoky-wisp that made Allison take a step back. The girl didn’t materialize again. Her voice didn’t come out from the black shadows that leaked across the floor. Allison took a step from the vending machine, her appetite gone, hurriedly made for the table, and sat next Isaac who was sitting and leaning back against the table. She looked over to Derek before whispering into his shadow. “Boyd?” Isaac’s head snapped to give her attention. Derek’s eyes looked pained for a second before flashing that shimmering blue. They hardened into a cold glare meeting her gaze. “What?” She felt her own stare turn to daggers. “I was just thinking of those we lost and how we might have to add Danny’s name to the list.” As he continued to glare at her, his eyebrows furrowed. “Yeah and who’s on that list? People like your aunt and your mom.” Allison stood up suddenly seeing a figure to her right. “Oh? What about those you’ve lost? You got Erica and Boyd killed, not to mention that because of your uncle, you caused a lot of others to suffer too.” She took in a deep breath to continue on but the silky voice from her right made her stop. “Ask him about Paige.” She looked over and held back a gasp. Kate stood, giving her maniacal smirk, her weight shifted to the right and her hand on her hip. 

“And what about Paige?” Derek froze. “Have you put Paige on the list?” Derek still hadn’t moved. Lydia pulled at Allison’s sleeve. Allison was still looking to Kate but when she looked back to Derek she felt the blood fall from her face and drift into the pit in her stomach. She reached into her sleeve, ready for a fight. Derek’s eyes were back to normal but his fists were clenched so tightly that blood was dripping down to the floor, pattering the yellow and white tiled floor. She looked up and he growled slightly and just turned away. Allison sat down. Isaac and Scott both crowded her. “Who is Paige? Why’d Derek react like that?” Allison shook her head. Unable to think of any responses to the questions they asked. She looked over to Kate in time to see her laugh and dematerialize. “Who’s Paige?” She asks again though no one answered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stiles ignored the messages coming into his phone. He didn’t want to talk to anybody. He checked it as the vibration signified someone was calling him. He looked at the screen. It was Lydia. He groaned as he considered ignoring the call. He quickly thought about the repercussions and winced as he answered. “Hello?” He heard a huff and quick slam.

“Finally. Everyone’s been trying to text you. They didn’t know where you went. Then Derek came back without you. What happened? What did he say?” Stiles rolled his eyes. And shrugged, mentally kicking himself as he remembered she couldn’t see him. “Look nothing was said. I got out of there as fast as I could without talking to him.” She interrupted him. “But why didn’t you want to talk to him? And I have to tell you about what happened between him and Allison.” Stiles grit his teeth and rubbed his forehead, groaning as he felt the grit from the hummus he was packing smear across it.

“I didn’t want to talk because when he woke up, I fed him a breakfast, even though it was like one. It was quick and easy so whatever. He finally healed up and I tried to talk to him, to get him to stay but then it all kind of got out of control and I, well, I kissed him.” She gasped but he continued ahead before she could speak. “But nothing else happened. He pushed me away, I kind of freaked out and told him to get out of the house and he left. Then you called so there. We’re all caught up.” Lydia was silent. “No we’re not. Do you know anything about Derek and a girl named Paige?” Stiles didn’t speak for a while. The guilt in his gut rose up and clawed at his insides. He wanted to just yell at feeling bad and sorry for Derek because there wasn’t a real reason to. Stiles sighed. “I can’t. I can’t talk about it because it’s Derek’s story. Peter told me but he shouldn’t have.” Lydia scoffed and he could practically hear the roll in her eyes. “Seriously? It’s like against the gay code or something to not gossip. Why did the name have an effect on him? He clawed his own hands up because he wasn’t killing Allison which is what his face said he wanted to. Who’s Paige? Stiles?” Stiles rubbed his hands on the towel in front of the stove. He picked up the bag and simply said, “Lydia. I’ll tell you sometime. But… Derek has to be okay with it.” Her huff made him pull the phone from his ear. “I thought you were mad at him.” Stiles shrugged again then growled at the fact that he would have preferred having the conversation in person. “I was. Am. I am. But- It’s not… Ugh. Lydia I got to go. Call you later. Bye.” He didn’t wait and pressed end. The wince as he hit the button eased while the fear of the consequences of what he just did rose to his throat. He cleared it and grabbed the keys to drive to the station. He only remembered about the hummus on his head when he was in the middle of the drive.

Pulling up into the parallel parking that was open he mentally thanked whoever had decided not to park on the end of the street. He hated parallel parking and it was just easy to swoop in on the last spot. He ran in and gave the front desk a quick wave. He walked into his dad’s office as his dad threw a folder down onto the desk. Stiles looked at him and then to Ryley who sat in the chair in front of the desk. Ryley blushed and shrugged but John rubbed at his temples. “I’ve come back to just utter crap.” Stiles sighed. “What’s happened?” John gave the brown bag in his hands a look of despise. “The fire in that abandoned warehouse. Nothing was damaged but they did finally find a few bodies.” Stiles felt his blood flee from his face. Telling his father about how he got the bruises had been hard enough without telling him he was a mage now. The fire seemed like the best part to leave out. He looked at a few of the pictures from the folder, ignoring the deputy who muttered something about not looking. He put the bag next to his dad and ignored the grumbling that took place as the man dug into the sack. “Wait. Are these all the bodies?” Only one was half recognizable. It was a young woman. Early twenties by the look of her face. He didn’t recognize her but he did note that she was cut up badly and naked. It wasn’t Cora. “That one is this woman who was found in the back of the rubble. She seemed to have been killed before the fire so we have no idea if her killer was in the flames or if he’d hidden the body in the right place at the right time.” Stiles looked up to Ryley who had been looking at the food the sheriff had been pulling out. “Some of that is yours too.” The younger man made a quick face and gingerly picked up a sandwich, and while distracted, Stiles took the picture of the woman. For some reason he felt as though Derek would know who or how to find out who the chick was. “Then there was a robbery in one of the local clothing stores. Whoever it was stole a pair pants, a shirt, a pair of boots and then a leather jacket.” Stiles heard the slight crunch of the pita bread.

“Stiles. This is awful.” Stiles guffawed. “You liked it last time. Don’t try to lie. I thought I was bad at lying.” His father nodded and muttered, “You are.” Around a mouth full of food. Stiles nodded and decided it was best to leave before any more food complaints came from him. As he walked to the door, he heard some thumping and turned to find Ryley behind him. “Here.” Stiles looked at his hand to see a piece of paper. He began to open it but Ryley said, “Just text me, okay?” Stiles looked at him and saw the blush. He nodded and saw the dimples in the guy’s smile and he turned to walk out of the station. Speechless he rode in silence, still holding the piece of paper in his hand. Walking into his house was just barely recognizable. Stiles took the stairs two at a time and finally looked at his phone. He’d ignored a few texts from Scott and a few from Isaac and Allison. Lydia wasn’t texting him. She was probably expecting him to call her and apologize. When he found a number he didn’t recognize he read the message and felt dread. It read, ‘We need to talk. Where are you?’ He opened his door and found the window open. He groaned. Without turning, Stiles knew Derek was standing in the corner of the room.

“Why the hell are you here? Why not go find Cora to bother?” He didn’t hear anything so he looked over and saw the older guy looking into his hands. “Derek?” He gulped and sat down next to him, careful about the blood stains on the mattress. Another mental kick as he forgot to figure out how to sleep on the bed without the blood there. With no answer Stiles twiddled his thumbs and then shifted in his seat. No longer comfortable, he stood up. “Will you just stop moving?” Derek grumbled angrily. Stiles punched his shoulder, making Derek look up at him in anger. “You came here. You wanted to talk. Deal with my insanity and my personal habits.” Derek sighed. “Yeah. I just… I just didn’t know where to go.” Stiles felt his heart pound and his thoughts swirled trying to figure what that meant but he pushed all of it aside. He put Ryley’s number in his pocket and sat down on the floor across from Derek. He leaned against his wall. “Just shut up. I already know about what happened at the hospital.” Derek didn’t move. “None of them know okay? You’re fine. I don’t know why Allison said what she did but I know for a fact that they don’t know.” Stiles distracted himself by twisting a loose piece of paper from when he had been doing research or homework between his fingers. Derek’s voice came out as a whisper. “But you do?” Stiles simply nodded slowly.

“Peter told me and Cora. If I’d known what he was telling us I wouldn’t have listened. It’s your story to tell. I wouldn’t want Scott or Lydia telling you about my mom dying in front of me. I think I’d feel like you do about Peter telling me.” Derek stood up and walked to the window and leaned out. “How long have you known?” Stiles shrugged. “It was after Boyd. You went missing for a night and Peter told us. So…” He shrugged again, tired that it was one of his more used body movement. “You haven’t told anyone?” Stiles just shook his head. He knew if he had he’d probably be clawed. He stood up. “You want to stay here?” Derek turned around. Stiles felt nervous. “I know my dad wouldn’t approve but I don’t think you by yourself is a good idea. No offense but you’ve been by yourself too long.”

“I thought you were mad at me?” Stiles rolled his eyes. “I am but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be nice and try to help out someone I care about. You’re staying. You can sleep in the bed. That’s your blood so I am not going anywhere near it.” Derek took a few hesitant steps from the window. “I can find my own place to sleep tonight. It wouldn’t be the first time I slept outside or anything.” Stiles just gave him a look. “Fine. Whatever. If you don’t want to sleep here then don’t. I’m just trying to get past my own pettiness and invite you to stay the night.” Derek looked like he was about to puke and Stiles was sure he just pissed the guy off. “Stiles… I… Look it’s complicated but-” 

“It’s not complicated. I’ll sleep on the couch downstairs and you can have my bed. I’ll probably be making breakfast tomorrow and you’re more than welcome to that too but I’m kind of expecting you to sneak out before that. Just stick around tonight, okay?” Stiles swallowed. “I’m tired of being left alone all the time. I’m not okay and someone just needs to treat me like I’m normal not someone who is going to break.” Derek came closer. Stiles felt his heartbeat skip as the distance closed. “What are you doing?” Derek shook his head and Stiles could see that those eyes were glancing down at his chest. The dumb werewolf could hear his heartbeat. “I just want to try something.” Derek leaned closer and Stiles tensed as he could smell Derek’s breath. It was actually minty, like he’d brushed them before coming over. He felt a little ashamed and was sure his breath smelled awful. “What?” His lips parted stupidly before Derek’s brushed against his. Stiles leaned back a little but Derek pushed forward. His hand sliding around Stiles’ waist, the other sliding up and over Stiles’ chest. Stiles closed his eyes. Felt Derek’s thumb brush past his cheek, his ear and placed itself behind his head against the wall. Stiles felt Derek’s tongue hesitantly touch his. Silently, Stiles wished that he was dreaming. He didn’t want this to be real and have the real Derek just vanish forever. Derek pulled away. “Shit.” Stiles opened his eyes and searched into Derek’s. Was it that bad for him? Stiles thought he’d at least be an okay kisser. Sure he’d only kissed girls and the one time earlier that day but why’d he say shit? Derek backed away shaking his head. “You weren’t bad.”  
Stiles blushed. “I did not say all that out loud.” Derek shook his head. “Why? What were you thinking?” Stiles shook his head. “Why’d you say that?” Derek shoved his hands into his pockets. “I don’t really want to talk about it…” 

Stiles felt his face start shaking and he threw up his hands and walked out of the room. “Stupid. I am so freakin’ stupid!” He heard thumps behind him as Derek followed him down the stairs. Something in Stiles was glad he wasn’t leaving. It meant something was okay between the two of them. Even though everything was also confusing. “Stiles. What are you doing?” Stiles stopped the shrug and walked into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge. He found a beer and popped the top. Derek raised his eyebrows. “No judging. If you don’t want to talk about whatever that was then I’m allowed to drink.” He popped the cap off, jealous of the hiss of pressure being released from inside the bottle as his own pressure was trapped in him and there didn’t seem a way to ease it. He let his head drop back as he took a few gulps and winced at the bitter taste. When Stiles finally looked to Derek he raised the bottle. “Want one?” Derek thought about it a few seconds and nodded. “Can’t get drunk but sure.”


	16. Cora's Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter takes place a few hours after the last one, like it's night now. I didn't know if I had made that clear enough, I can never gauge how others view my writing on my own. It's also kind of a short chapter. Sorry! Drunk!Stiles in this one, plus some new characters. Comment and critique away! hope you enjoy!

Scott rolled his eyes as soon as he walked into the house. He could hear the t.v. turn off, the creak of the chair as someone leaned forward. He could tell his father was coming to ask him where he had been so Scott tried to make it to the stairs before he could. “Scott! Where have you been?” For a second Scott thought about ignoring his father. The man must have guessed what he was thinking because then he said, “I have a right to know Scott. I am your father.” Scott felt his eyes shift and he wanted to just snarl at the man. He took in a deep breath and turned around. He knew his eyes were back to normal but he glared all the same. “I was at the hospital. My friend was admitted a few days ago and I went to check on him.” He made to turn around when he heard Kyle mutter, to where no human could have understood. “That Stilinski kid was probably doing something stupid and put himself in there.” Scott whipped around and stalked up to his father, looking at him straight into the eyes. He felt the growl in his throat. 

“My friend, his name’s Danny. And you know what? He’s missing. No one can find him. Stiles is smart. Just because you don’t like him doesn’t give you any reason to make fun or put him down. You don’t even belong here. I have a lot of father figures. None of them are close to being like you. Mom and I have made it just fine without you.” Isaac came down the stairs and stopped when he saw the two of them. He had left early so he could take a nap for the night’s run. Scott looked briefly up at him and wanted to growl. He liked Isaac. He really did. Scott looked back to the man in front of him. He didn’t want Isaac to feel even more uncomfortable about still living with them. He jerked his head back out the door. He threw his bag to the bottom of the stairs as Isaac came down the rest of the steps. “We’re going for a run.” He didn’t pay attention to the protests from the man but he did hear him grunt slightly and turned his head to see Isaac had shoved past him. Scott didn’t wait for the door to close before he took off for the woods. Isaac was close behind and then he heard Kyle yelling his name, trying hard to stay mad even if the mental image of his father looking around and wondering how Scott and Isaac had disappeared made him want to laugh.

Isaac remained quiet through the run. He usually did. Scott appreciated it, even if he wanted Isaac to go off on his own some nights. Tonight he was enjoying the sounds of his footfalls, each step keeping his own emotions in check. He slowed down and came to a stop. Isaac ran past him a few steps and stopped mid turn. Scott brought out his phone and dialed his mom’s number. He didn’t expect her to answer. “Hello?”

“Hey mom. I ran away from dad. Again.” She sighed and he could just see her shaking her head with a slight smile. “Isaac came with me so he’s probably mad.” She chuckled and Scott felt his eyebrows lower in confusion. “Oh he’s mad Scott. He’s called me a few times and keeps sending texts saying we need to talk when I get home. For once I’m glad I’m on the night shift.” Scott smiled. “You and Isaac better not stay out avoiding him all night.” Scott quickly reassured they wouldn’t. “Has your friend Danny showed up yet?” Scott felt his grin fall. He shook his head as he told her that he hadn’t heard anything from the twins. That he had actually forgotten that he and Isaac needed to go check on the two of them and hopefully get Ethan to get to sleep. “Well, don’t stay out all night. The latest I want you out is like midnight. But I know it’ll be more three-ish, won’t it?” Scott didn’t really say anything. She sighed, told him she needed to get back to work and that he should be careful. He whispered a good night from both him and Isaac. He hung and up and looked to Isaac. “Sorry I made you run with me.” The other guy shrugged. 

“I like to run. And I don’t know why… But I know how you feel. Like when you got mad, I actually clawed up my pillow and knew I should be with you.” Scott nodded not needing to know more. He had felt that connection with Derek and Peter. It was a weird alpha thing. Since Isaac had joined him, as a pack member as well as a friend, they both understood each other better. Scott didn’t need to ask if there were residual feelings from Isaac’s own relationship between him and his dad. “Where do you think Ethan and Aiden are?” Isaac shook his head but froze as the wind blew against him, a few of the loose curls shaking in the breeze. The wind brought with it the sound of wolves. A pack. Scott knew his eyes shifted and he felt a quick flare in his temper. His territory was being invaded. Isaac was already shifted and growling, waiting for Scott’s orders. Scott raised his head and pushed the rumbling in his gut up through his chest, his lungs shaking at the force of the howl that ricocheted through his windpipes and vocal chords. He let the roar into the night and made sure to listen for any answers. Two voices relayed back to him almost immediately. He recognized those as the twins. It was the next few cries that sent him into his fully shifted form. He snarled and took off toward the sounds. Isaac followed him but close behind.

Scott took to leaping over fallen trees and flipping through the air as he crossed little creeks. Isaac was leaping just as high but not with nearly as much flair as Scott. Scott jerked his attention to two pairs of eyes coming close to him. He recognized the scent of Ethan and Aiden with a deep inhale. Slowing down in the middle of the rocky clearing, where he and Stiles often used to go just to get away from everyone, Scott turned around in a circle, sniffing the air. He shifted back to normal and looked to the other boys. They all had shifted too, Ethan leaving his eyes red. Scott had to bite back a command, they were equals. Ethan must have seen his look because he nodded his eyes fading from the red. They all looked forward and listened. A few more howls and shapes began emerging out of the woods. These werewolves were all betas, their eyes glowing the eerie yellow. Scott sniffed and felt his voice get caught in his throat. 

“Cora?” Isaac whispered behind him. Another figure came through the parting pack. A real wolf with bright red eyes. Scott heard Ethan and Aiden both take in a quick breath. Scott looked around to them then back to the wolf. The wolf seemed to unfold on itself, rising up on its hind legs which thickened and lost the hair. He gaped as the woman seemed to just emerge from the animal. She strode forward, completely naked, and glared at Scott and the other boys. “Who are you?” Scott stepped forward. “My name’s Scott. Scott McCall. This is my territory.” He was surprised at how menacing he sounded, surprised that instead of being polite and asking what they were here for or why Cora was in their pack. Instead he was completely consumed by protecting what was his. Cora showed confusion then fear then anger on her face. She seemed just as shocked at his tone. The woman’s eyes narrowed. “I apologize. I would have summoned you before coming but I’m a little distracted. A few of my pack members have disappeared and we’re searching for them.”

“Derek?” Isaac’s voice cut out sharply, making Scott growl slightly. The Alphas were the ones talking. Cora stepped forward quickly, ripping her arm away from the younger boy who tried to hold her back. “Is he here?” Scott glared at the woman Alpha. “Yeah. But before we go any further, tell us who you are.” The woman nodded but he could smell the distrust coming from her scent. “My name is Helen Roads. You know Cora. The boy next to her is Anthony Justice, Nicole Castellano, and Stephen Markova.” She nodded to the others. “I suppose you two are the twin Alphas, Aiden and Ethan? Cora’s warned me that you two were with Deucalion and now on your own.” She looked to Isaac who smelled to Scott like desperation. He wanted to go see Cora, see how she was. He’d been her one of her pack mates, though for a short time. Scott nodded. “We can take you to Derek.” Helen raised a hand. “We’re searching for another pack member. My mate.” Scott looked to Isaac and then to the twins. They shook their heads but Ethan was the one to answer. “Nothing has caught our attention.” Scott nodded, the bitterness in his voice sharing that there hadn’t been a sign of Danny either. 

Helen frowned deeper at the news but nodded. A sudden stick cracking sent all the wolves shifting except for Helen. She stared, her eyes glaring with the burning crimson. A hand wrapped around a tree and pulled the bare body around the trunk. Bare feet slapped the rocks, grunts breaking the heaving and labored breaths. Ethan ran forward. “Danny!” The new wolves were looking to Helen for a command but she watched Scott. He looked as Ethan fretted over Danny. Danny looked to Scott and whispered, “What the hell happened?” Scott sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Guess we need to get to Stiles’ house.” Cora shifted back. “Why do we need to go there?” Scott gave her a look. “His dad’s at the station and probably will be late. They’re still looking for Danny and we can have privacy at his house.” He didn’t mention how he thought that Derek was probably there. After the scene at the hospital, the man seemed like he’d go ballistic if he didn’t talk to someone. Stiles was always one of his favorites to pick on to make himself feel better. Scott walked over and pulled off the jacket he still had on. He slipped it to Ethan who forced it onto Danny. Danny was confused and a little embarrassed at the exposure of his entire body.

“Scott, I’ve got Stiles.” Isaac told him. Scott nodded and barely listened to the conversation. “Stiles? Yeah. We found him. What? He is? Good. We’re on our way over. What? Okay…” Isaac held out the phone for Scott. “Said he needs to tell you something.” Scott answered, slightly annoyed at having to have the conversation over the phone. “What Stiles?” Stiles sighed at the other end. 

“You know we’re best friends right?” Scott rolled his eyes. “Yeah?” Stiles rambled on. “Well good, because I think you’re my best friend, if not then my only friend maybe. I don’t know. But I love you man. Like a brother. Like family. We’re family, brothers, Scott.” Scott barked a quick laugh. “Are you drunk?” Silence. “No. I’m just a little tipsy. Derek keeps making me drink beers.” Scott nodded. “Derek’s there?” He heard Stiles talking to Derek. “Yeah yeah shut up, Sourwolf. It’s what you are. I don’t care, you don’t like me so I can call you that. So there. What? Yeah, Scott, Derek’s here. I don’t think he’s gay Scott.” His eyes narrowing, Scott wondered what that was supposed to mean. He asked. “Scott, Derek’s not gay. I am though. I kissed Derek. Twice. He didn’t like it. You said you didn’t. What? I don’t know what you’re saying. Shut up. Scott? Hello?” Scott shook his head. Stiles wasn’t tipsy. He was drunk. He rubbed at his eyes. “Stiles. Shut up and get sober.” He heard his friend whine. “Why? How else am I supposed to handle Derek’s denial? Do you hate me? Do you hate that I’m gay now?”

Scott stopped from getting angry as he heard the desperation in his voice. “Stiles you’re my brother. How could I hate you?” He thought he heard a sniff from the line so he pushed on. “Get sober. We’re coming over. Keep Derek there. We have some friends that want to see him.” Stiles coughs and seems to be talking to Derek. “You have friends? Who? I need coffee. In the kitchen. I need in the kitchen. Make me coffee then. Stop! It’s my phone! Derek!” He heard Stiles grunting and some whining. “Scott?” Derek’s voice made Scott laugh. “Having fun?” He heard the growl over the phone. “Get him sober. And what is he talking about being gay?” Isaac’s face flashed in surprise while Cora shook her head and Helen glared at him. “Nothing Scott. I don’t know if he even wants to tell you. It’s… It’s his business.” The hesitation told him Derek knew what was really going on. Scott decided to let it go even though questions were running through his mind. “Fine. We’ll be there in a half hour. Call Lydia and see if she can meet. Allison is not going to be able to come so we’ll need someone to be able to tell her.” He looked at Isaac and hoped the guy thought about what he was trying not to say. Derek got it. “Do we really need Lydia?” Scott simply told him yes and hung up. “Let’s get to Stiles’.” 

Helen looked to Cora who nodded and she glared at Danny. “The human will slow us down.” Danny looked her up and down, more out of appraisal than appreciation. “Human? What are you saying?” Helen looked to Ethan then to Scott. He shook his head and started off in the direction to Stiles’ house, ignoring the buzzing from his pockets that could only mean his father was trying to reach him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Scott sounds like Scott. I'm bad with adjusting my dialogue and I was having trouble with his. Still, hope you enjoyed!


	17. Power's Recognition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a wait on the update. Lots of stuff have been happening. School's beginning to get tougher and finals are beginning to creep up on me! So not ready! I'll try to update again really soon but who knows. I love the comments and kudos, thank you all so much for the support! I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feedback is, as always, greatly wanted and I await in excitement.

Derek held back an irritated growl from Scott hanging up on him. He silently wondered what the boy had meant by friends of his. He dialed up Lydia on Stiles’ phone, the boy whining and tossing all over the couch in his drunken stupor, his hands banging into Derek for the phone. “Derek! Give me the phone! I have to talk to Scott. I need to! Sourwolf? Please?” Derek rolled his eyes and stood from the couch, the line ringing quietly. Stiles’ face slid into one of shock and his lips formed an “o” shape as he fell into Derek’s spot. Derek smirked. “I’m not talking to Scott anymore.” He walked out of the room toward the kitchen as he heard a sigh come up from the other side of the phone call. “Stiles. What is it now? What’s Derek done to you? Anything you liked?” He could hear the sneer on her face. “He’s unable to talk right now.” “Derek!” A bang from the other room and a drunken murmur of an apology told him Stiles was following. “Who are you calling? Is it Scott?” Stiles came around the doorframe, clutching the wood to hold himself from swaying and stumbling.

“Uh, Derek? Is that Stiles?” Derek growled. “Yes. How do I sober him up easy and quickly? Scott needs him to be and he also wants you here.” Lydia coughed. “So Stiles is drunk and isn’t cuddling? He’s usually a cuddler from what Allison heard from Scott.” Derek rolled his eyes. “Yes. He’s a cuddler. What do I do.” The last bit came out in angry clenched teeth. Lydia scoffed. “Do I sound like someone you can boss around? You are not in charge anymore. Scott is. You better say please.” Derek growled. He felt thin fingers wrap over his shoulder and a slight bump from Stiles’ chin hitting between his neck and shoulder. “You’re really cute when you growl. Used to scare me shitless but it’s actually really cute.” Derek rolled his eyes, thanking that Stiles was drunk and wouldn’t notice a flush of color breaking Derek’s cheeks. “Lydia. Please.” He heard her cackling and Stiles was now struggling again for the phone. “Why are you talking to Lydia? Lydia? What’s going on? Derek doesn’t like me!” 

“Okay. Just throw him in the shower. Cold water obviously. If he whines, tell him you’ll be in there to join in. When he stops saying responses, check on him. If he’s in the corner glaring then he knows he’s getting sober and that he needs to stay in there for a little bit longer. Make him toast. Put peanut butter on it. Apparently, Stiles likes it better than butter on it. Allison never said why. She just laughed that Scott was always complaining about it.” Derek listened for more but nothing came. He sighed and pushed Stiles slightly away from him, holding him up with one hand. “Anything else?” Another sigh from Lydia. “Just don’t kill him and act like he hasn’t said anything embarrassing. Take his abuse. About to drive over so I’ll be able to help.” He was moving his finger over to end the call when she added like an afterthought, “Don’t let him read any books. Just don’t.” She hung up without another word. Derek looked at the phone, holding Stiles back with his other hand. He pretended like the slight finger tracing over his arm didn’t bother him. That it didn’t send chills down his spine. He growled and glared at Stiles who stared at his arm before making eye contact with Derek. He smiled a toothy grin. 

“Let’s…” Derek started, hating himself for providing a false hope to Stiles. A hope that for some reason had his mind churning with mental images that weren’t unpleasing. “Let’s go take a shower together.” Stiles froze and dropped his arm. “That’s… Um… Really?” Stiles shuffled slightly back from Derek’s hand. He clung to the edge of the counter. “Don’t you hate me though?” Derek saw the hurt in the boy’s eyes and he took Stiles’ hand, pulling him to the stairs. Stiles shuffled forward and took the steps with hesitance. Those eyes searched Derek’s and Derek felt guilt slowly creep around his heart. He pulled harder and Stiles took the steps with more assurance. When they reached Stiles’ bedroom he felt his grip loosen and he turned to look at Stiles. A blush had crept up his face, his eyes looking anywhere but Derek’s. Derek jerked him lightly, making him stumble and slam into Derek’s chest. Stiles took in a quick breath and tightened. Derek began to pull at the boy’s shirt before a soft touch on his neck made him slow down.

“Derek… Stop.” Derek looked down. “I know what you’re doing. Scott used to pull this with me all the time. Lydia knows about it because he tells Allison stuff and she’s a big mouth to Lydia. Lydia’s coming over. But you didn’t want to talk to her so that means Scott made you. He wants me to not be, like, drunk anymore. Sober.” Stiles closed his eyes and made a leveled look into Derek’s after a breath. “Go let them in when they get here. I’ll get ready.” Derek sniffed and wondered when Stiles had really realized everything. Stiles gave him a smirk and pulled away. He flipped a book on his desk over, running his fingers over the white spine. Derek’s eyes narrowed at the uncharacteristically quiet boy walking away from him. “Stiles?” The door slammed shut. Derek pretended not to be able to smell the hurt from the kid. Pretended he didn’t hear the whine that came from a throat the same time a whine came from a faucet. Pretended that Stiles’ mutterings didn’t mean anything to him. The water quieted for a second, apparently from Stiles entering the stream. Then he heard a choked sob. Derek ran out of the room to wait by the door, listening to Stiles’ muffled chokes and sobs through the floor. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stiles leaned his forehead against the tiled walls. The damn grimoire was what cleared his buzz to let him see what was happening. What Derek was going to do to him. He felt ashamed. He’d known that Derek wasn’t interested and yet he was ready to just trust the man to change his mind. Stiles shook his head, feeling his chest constrict with another wrenching sob. It was because of his desperation. It was because of the Darkness that was inside him. The thing that coiled around his thoughts, making him believe that he deserves to be alone. The thing that made him want so desperately to be loved and held and protected. Stiles pounded a wet fist against the wall. He knew Derek would be listening. “He doesn’t like you. End the stupid crush now before you waste more life on him.” Stiles took in a shuddering breath. Felt his lungs strain as they stretched with more air than he usually took. He mentally visualized his breathing making a wall around him. 

A drop of water dripped off his nose and over his lips, making him feel the ghost sensation of Derek’s pull on them, his tongue teasing them open as he pushed into Stiles. Stiles opened his eyes and felt the wall crumble as another wave of desperate longing hit him. He turned around to face the curtain, leaning his body against the cooler touch of tiles. The water steamed and shrouded his head, mixing the cool back to the boiling front. He sighed, distracting himself with thinking random words forwards then backwards. He held up his hand, palm up, the energy flowed from his shoulder, down his arm, stopped at his wrist, trickled into his hand. It spread across it and up his fingers, the vibration of power beginning to make that mental hum in his brain. “Ezeerf.” The few droplets on his palm froze into crystals. He moved his hand over into the stream of the shower head and watched as the water hitting it transformed into ice. Stiles gasped and let the energy suck back from his hand as cold water hit his hips. He cringed and curled until the water was back to heating his body. Stiles glared and raised his fingers again. The power came back, easier to handle than before. “Ezeerf.” He imagined making a figure with the ice. He closed his eyes to get a better mental picture. He felt his hand get heavier. He smiled thinking of an icicle when the mental shape changed into a wolf. He opened his eyes and saw the ice slowly creep into the form that had been held into his mind. He snarled, throwing the figure to the floor. It shattered and he rolled his eyes hoping Derek had heard. 

Stiles went ahead and washed his body, scrubbing his skin until it was red and raw. He groaned as the heat soaked into his arms. The tension he’d been feeling all day was let out as he scrubbed. He ran a hand through his hair, wondering if he should wash it too. Deciding against it, he leaned against the faucet, letting the shower head stream steaming water across the splay of his back. Stiles chewed a lip thinking of Derek’s back. He stood up taller, pointing to his lower arm, and muttered, “Oottat.” He gasped as the image on his grimoire came up onto his skin. It’d been the image he formed in his mind. He traced his fingers over the lines. Smooth feeling skin was all he found. He ran a hand, then finger nails, then he scratched at the shape as though he could get rid of it. Another word came into his mind and he practiced it a few times before letting energy slip into his hand again. “Hsinav.” The black lines seemed to melt into his body. The touching triangles first, then the floating triangles. It was the black line that took the longest. It started from the right and vanished, slowly until the end of the line was gone when Stiles blinked. He hummed to himself slightly. He thought he was getting better at the casting of spells but he couldn’t be sure since there wasn’t a real teacher for him. He was sure Miranda or Xavier would help him but after the kidnapping, he hadn’t seen them in a few days. 

Turning off the water, he heard the creak of his floor outside of his door. He looked to the mirror, muttering at the fogged thing, he thought up a quick spell and he looked at the reflection. He pulled at his eyes, making sure they were no longer red or puffy. Instead, his whole body seemed red from his hard scrubbing. He heard another squeak of floorboard. He let the energy flow down his arm and he held the command on the tip of his tongue. He opened to door to see an older man picking at the mattress, hands lingering over the blood stains. “Peter!” Stiles held up his hand, and his other hand held up his towel. Peter Hale looked at him with a smirk. “Hello Stiles. How are you doing?” Stiles wondered where Derek was. He was answered when the young man came into the room, eyes shifted into the ice blue that could freeze steel. Stiles didn’t drop his hand but he did get closer to Derek. “What’s going on? Where have you been?” Peter continued to watch Stiles. His eyes growing from amused to confusion. “What are you doing? Going to stop me from seeing your paleness? Trust me. I’m already burned with that image.” Stiles lowered his hand and tightened his towel, not thinking of how he was nearly naked with Derek. He felt his ears heat up and he turned to get clothes out of his dresser. He heard movement and a snarl. Stiles dropped his underwear and threw out his hand, his mind crying out the command before his lips could even open. The energy slipped down his arm but he pulled back at the last second. He felt the hum across his skin and saw Peter’s eyes narrow, Derek’s shoulders tensed and he looked back to Stiles.

“What?! I’m kind of in a lack of clothing at this moment! Stop looking at me and get out of my room.” His voice was high and he knew they both could hear his heart beating faster as he grabbed his clothes and ran back into the bathroom, grabbing the grimoire before closing the door. “Stiles, why did you take that book?” He could hear Peter’s restraint of a laugh without super werewolf hearing. It was Derek who surprised him with, “Don’t open that book, Stiles. Lydia told me not to let you. Give it to me.” Stiles thought about that and he finally felt brave enough to confront the two werewolves. He dropped his towel and held up both hands to the door. “Open by my hands only. Ylno… Sdnah ym yb… Nepo.” He practiced the words quickly, stumbling quickly before saying them with more conviction. “Stiles? What are you saying?” Derek’s voice was low and annoyed. Peter was quiet. “Sorry, you need something?” Stiles asked with a smirk. The doorknob twisted but the door didn’t move. There was a pause. “Stiles. What did you do?” The annoyance was turning to anger. Stiles smiled and slipped on underwear. “Nothing Derek. Why? Want in here? Oh. Sorry, not presentable.” He nearly died of laughter when he heard Peter’s scoff. “Open the damn door Derek. Seriously. He’s what? One hundred pounds of smart-alecky teenager?” There was a growl and Stiles heard Derek taking a few steps from the door. He felt his blood rush. “Reirrab!” He imagined the door as the barrier, Derek and Peter unable to see the shield. 

He heard a crash and Peter cursing. Stiles quickly got changed and dropped the shield, pulled back on the energy and turned the knob with a pull. The door opened slowly and he had to try and contain his smile before he saw what had happened. Derek had been thrown into Peter, slammed into his bedside table; the lamp on it was thrown onto the floor. Both men stared at him with wide eyes. “What the hell are you two doing?” Seeing the look on Derek pulled at his heart and he shrugged, taking the grimoire out of the room trying to hide the hurt he felt that Derek would have actually tried using his feelings against him to sober him up. Sliding the book, cover down onto the counter he glared at the toast on the plate in front of him. The peanut butter made his stomach growl a little. He picked one of the pieces up and bit into it forcefully. Derek was growling behind a pissed Peter. “How did you do that?” Stiles glared at him, suddenly mad at him for sinking to using his feelings. He pulled the book closer to him and shook his head. “I assure you I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Derek growled and Stiles gave him a glare. “Maybe it was karma. Or did you really want to take a shower together?” Peter’s narrowed eyes opened wide and turned to Derek. “What?” Derek growled again and the glare grew darker. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Stiles shrugged. “The same thing that my feelings must mean.”

“Seriously?! Stiles I told you it’s complicated!” Stiles ignored him, hugged the grimoire to his chest and bit into his toast with ferocity. “Don’t care.” His response was food-filled and he didn’t care as he poured a glass of water sure he wouldn’t get drunk again since he was holding the book. Before Derek or Peter could say another question, Lydia walked into the kitchen. She looked at the book and then to Derek and Peter. “I told you.” Stiles pulled his toast away from her and she gave him the look. He grumbled and slid it back over to her. She took a piece and bit into it. She rolled her eyes. “Scott better bring us dinner. Something expensive too. I hadn’t eaten dinner yet.” She glared at Peter. “Glad to see you’re not rotted with worms. Wait.” She looked to Stiles. “Can we make it happen?” Stiles shrugged and gave it a contemplative look. “Maybe if I took time to plan out the perfect death.” Lydia looked at the book again, finally realizing their words. Stiles hugged the book tighter as the door opened again, a few more voices filling the hall. “Scott, why the hell are we here, at Stilinski’s?” Stiles felt his jaw drop as Danny came around the corner, basically held tight against Ethan’s body. A stab of jealousy made him glare at Derek again. Derek wasn’t paying attention to him anymore. Instead he was looking past Danny and the twins. Isaac and Cora came around the corner. She smiled and hugged her brother as he sniffed her thoroughly. She took in a deep inhale. “You’ve been drinking.” Derek grimaced. “I would have called but I don’t have my cell phone anymore. The uh…” He looked to Stiles. “Actually I don’t know what happened.” Then Scott came up with a tall woman. She ignored Stiles and the others, taking in Derek and Peter. “Hello, Derek.” She said it in a calm tone but Stiles could actually feel the power that came with the voice. Derek kept his eyes averted. “Hello, Helen.” Peter sniffed coldly but he kept his own gaze on Stiles. “Is Annie with you?” Stiles looked at the woman, hearing her own pain mix with the authority. Derek winced. “I thought it was Cora who was captured… It was Annie?” Helen nodded but Derek kept his gaze to the floor. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened to her.”

Stiles watched the exchange and felt something prick at the back of his mind. “Did she have short brown hair, kind of covered her eyes in her sleep? Thin and tan? Looked like she was in her mid-twenties?” The woman’s eyes flickered with a red light. Stiles let his energy flow down to his hand, letting it hum in his fingers. All the wolves looked around for the sound. Only the woman, Helen, kept her glare on him. “Yes. Her name is Annie Justice. Where did you see her?” Stiles gulped and kept the energy humming at his fingers. Danny spoke though. “Her death was wrong. Cut down, stripped of the love she held for others. Her compassion turned her into a soft light that those in the dark easily tear apart even as others looked to her for hope.” Helen turned around to him and Danny’s gaze refocused. He held a hand up to his forehead. “I-I-I don’t know what that was… I see her face. This… woman’s face. I can see her dying, crying out. She didn’t deserve it…” Stiles brought out the picture, not ashamed at having grabbed the same jeans he had been wearing before his shower. “Is this Annie?” Helen took the picture and her fangs grew. Derek looked to Stiles and the picture. Stiles made an attempt to make eye contact. “I tried to tell you but then… It got overly complicated.” He blushed and pulled the grimoire closer to his face.

“Who did this?” Scott snarled as Helen roared her question at Stiles. “Back off.” The rest of the people behind the woman all seemed to tense and shift. Stiles held up and hand and he let the energy rush down his arm. He could feel the humming all over his hand now as the power in it grew. Lydia stood behind Aiden and Danny was behind Ethan, The twins were in their werewolf forms and they were close to each other. Scott put himself between Helen and Stiles, noting the humming of the boy’s hand. “We don’t really know who they are but we can find out.” Helen’s growl grew into a rumble. “You had better start explaining. Now.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully you're enjoying this! I'd love your responses and critiques. Find me at chanceanton.tumblr.com but don't expect to find anything pretty because I'm technologically challenged.


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